Cibtwjp  of  Che  Cheolocjical  ^eromarp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 

•3  ^^8* 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

DURING  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 
AND  THE  TRANSITION  TO  MODERN  TIMES 


1 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •  BOSTON  •  CHICAGO 
DALLAS  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

DURING  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 
AND  THE  TRANSITION  TO  MODERN 

TIMES 


BY 

FRANK  PIERREPONT  GRAVES,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  THE  HISTORY  AND  PHILOSOPHY  OF 
EDUCATION  IN  THE  OHIO  STATE  UNIVERSITY 
AUTHOR  OF  “A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 
BEFORE  THE  MIDDLE  AGES” 


Neto  Jgork 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1913 


All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1910, 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.  Published  September,  1910.  Reprinted 
January,  1912  ;  July,  1913. 


Nortooob  ^resss 

J.  S.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


TO  MY  WIFE 


HELEN  WADSWORTH  GRAVES 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/historyofeducati00grav_1 


PREFACE 


This  book  is  a  continuation  of  my  History  of  Educa¬ 
tion  before  the  Middle  Ages ,  and  holds  in  general  to  the 
same  point  of  view  and  method  of  approach.  It  may, 
however,  be  used  quite  independently  of  that  volume 
as  a  textbook  or  a  work  of  reference  upon  educational 
history  between  the  sixth  and  the  eighteenth  centuries. 
In  either  case,  it  is  hoped  that  a  sufficiently  clear  and 
detailed  account  is  given  to  afford  an  accurate  picture 
of  the  period  covered,  and  to  interest  students  in  some 
of  the  more  important  origins  of  modern  educational 
procedure.  The  extensive  quotation  of  the  sources  and 
the  selected  lists  of  supplementary  reading  should  con¬ 
tribute  materially  to  these  ends. 

No  apology  is  necessary,  I  trust,  for  continuing  to 
view  the  educational  process  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
development  of  individualism.  The  period  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  the  subsequent  four  centuries  of  reaction  lend 
themselves  to  this  method  of  interpretation  with  engag¬ 
ing  facility.  Nevertheless,  I  have  striven  never  in  the 
interest  of  this  method  to  slur  the  facts  nor  force  their 
construction,  and  have  deferred  all  serious  attempts 
at  generalization  until  after  the  data  have  been  pre¬ 
sented.  As  in  the  former  volume,  I  have  also  under¬ 
taken  to  furnish  a  background  and  a  perspective  for  the 
history  of  education  by  interweaving  a  liberal  measure 

of  political  material.  Although  this  part  of  the  narra- 

•  • 

Vll 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


tive  is,  because  of  the  growing  complexity  of  the  times 
under  consideration,  necessarily  less  connected  than 
in  my  work  upon  ancient  education,  such  an  historical 
setting  may  tend  to  acquit  me  of  the  charge  of  peda¬ 
gogical  aeroplaning.  At  any  rate,  a  life-line  of  general 
history  is  sadly  needed  by  the  average  student  of  edu¬ 
cation. 

In  making  this  work  accurate,  I  have  received  aid 
from  several  quarters.  I  am  much  indebted  to  my 
colleagues,  Professors  E.  H.  McNeal  and  Clarence 
Perkins,  for  the  pains  they  have  expended  in  checking 
up  the  descriptions  of  an  historical  layman,  and  to  my 
former  colleague,  Professor  J.  H.  Coursault,  of  the 
University  of  Missouri,  for  his  frank  but  kindly  criticism 
of  the  educational  facts  in  the  book  and  of  my  method 
of  presenting  them.  I  owe  an  even  larger  debt  to  my 
colleague,  Professor  A.  E.  Davies,  who  has  throughout 
the  preparation  of  this  treatise  been  ever  at  my  service 
as  a  critic  and  guide,  and  has  found  time  in  a  very  busy 
life  to  make  many  suggestions  and  improvements. 


July  i,  1910. 


F.  P.  G. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 

THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

The  Problem  of  the  Medleval  Period  .  .  .  .  i 

The  Middle  Ages  as  a  Period  of  Assimilation.  The 
Middle  Ages  as  a  Period  of  Repression. 

CHAPTER  II 

Monasticism  and  the  Monastic  Schools  ...  4 

Rise  and  History  of  Monasticism.  The  Rule  of  Bene¬ 
dict.  The  Libraries,  Multiplication  of  Manuscripts,  and 
Original  Writings  of  the  Monasteries.  Organization  of  the 
Monastic  Education.  The  Three  Ideals  of  the  Monastic 
Education.  The  Monastic  Course  of  Study  and  the  Seven 
Liberal  Arts.  The  Methods  of  Teaching  and  the  Texts 
Used  in  the  Monastic  Schools.  How  Monasticism  Affected 
the  Middle  Ages  and  Civilization  in  General. 

CHAPTER  III 

Charlemagne’s  Revival  of  Education  ....  25 

Rise  of  the  Franks  and  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne. 
Charlemagne’s  Improvements  in  Administration.  Charle¬ 
magne’s  Efforts  to  Improve  Learning.  Alcuin  and  the 
Palace  School.  Educational  Improvement  in  the  Monastic 
and  Other  Schools.  The  Course  of  Study  and  the  Or¬ 
ganization  in  the  Schools.  The  School  of  Alcuin  at  the 
Monastery  of  Tours.  Rabanus  Maurus  and  Other  Pupils 
of  Alcuin. 

ix 


X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IV 

PAGE 

The  Revival  of  Education  under  Alfred  ...  36 

Alfred’s  Desire  to  Extend  and  Improve  Education.  The 
Establishment  of  Schools  and  the  Importation  of  Edu¬ 
cators.  Alfred’s  Personal  Assistance  to  Learning  and 
Education.  Significance  of  Alfred’s  Educational  Work. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Mohammedan  Learning  and  Education  ...  40 

The  Rise  of  Moslemism  and  Its  Absorption  of  Greek 
Culture.  The  Brothers  of  Sincerity  and  Their  Scheme 
of  Higher  Education.  The  Moorish  Colleges.  Elemen¬ 
tary  Education.  Stimulating  Effect  upon  Europe  of  the 
Moslem  Education. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Educational  Tendencies  of  Mysticism  and  Scho¬ 
lasticism  . 47 

The  Nature  and  Rise  of  Christian  Mysticism.  The  Edu¬ 
cation  in  Mediaeval  Mysticism.  The  Development  of 
Mysticism.  The  Character  of  Scholasticism.  The  His¬ 
tory  of  Scholastic  Development.  The  Tendency  of 
Scholasticism.  Its  Educational  Organization  and  Content. 

The  Method  of  Presentation.  Scholasticism  and  Its  In¬ 
fluence.  The  Relations  of  Mysticism  and  Scholasticism 
to  Education. 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Education  of  Feudalism  and  Chivalry  .  .  63 

The  Origin  of  Feudalism.  Chivalry  and  Its  Develop¬ 
ment.  The  Ideals  of  Chivalric  Education.  The  Three 
Stages  of  Education  Preparatory  to  Knighthood.  Knight¬ 
hood.  Training  of  Women.  The  Effects  of  Chivalric 
Education. 


CONTENTS 


xi 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGK 

The  Educational  Work  of  the  Friars  ....  72 

The  Purpose  of  the  Friars.  Their  Organization  and 
Methods.  Their  Influence  upon  Education  and  Progress. 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  Mediaeval  Universities .  .  76 

General  Causes  of  the  Rise  of  Universities.  The  His¬ 
tory  and  Purpose  of  the  Universities.  Privileges  Granted 
to  Universities.  Organization  of  the  Universities.  The 
Courses  of  Study.  The  Methods  of  Study.  Degrees. 

The  Value  of  the  University  Education  and  Its  Effect 
upon  Civilization. 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Development  of  Cities  and  New  Schools  .  96 

The  Rise  of  Commerce  and  Cities.  The  Gild,  Burgher, 
and  Chantry  Schools. 

CHAPTER  XI 

The  Passing  of  the  Middle  Ages . 100 

The  Growth  of  National  Spirit.  The  Development  of 
Vernacular  Literature.  Mediaeval  Art.  Summary  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 


PART  II 

THE  TRANSITION  TO  MODERN  TIMES 

CHAPTER  XII 

The  Renaissance  and  Humanistic  Education  .  .106 

The  General  Tendencies  of  the  Renaissance.  The 
Renaissance  and  the  Revival  of  Learning.  Humanism 
and  the  Humanists. 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIII 

PAGE 

The  Humanistic  Education  in  Italy  .  .  .  .no 

Causes  of  the  Awakening  in  Italy.  Petrarch  and  His 
Influence.  The  Development  of  Greek  Scholarship. 
Chrysoloras  and  His  Pupils.  The  City  Tyrants  as  Hu¬ 
manists.  The  Court  School  at  Mantua  and  Vittorino  da 
Feltre.  The  Relation  of  the  Court  Schools  to  the  Uni¬ 
versities.  Attitude  of  the  Humanists  toward  the  Church. 

Ideals  of  the  Humanistic  Education.  The  Content, 
Method,  and  Organization.  Decadence  of  the  Italian 
Humanism  and  the  Rise  of  Ciceronianism. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Humanistic  Education  of  the  North  .  .  .  140 

The  Spread  and  Character  of  Humanism  in  the  North¬ 
ern  Countries.  The  Development  in  France.  Budaeus. 
Corderius.  College  de  Guyenne.  Classical  Studies  in 
the  German  Universities.  Groot  and  the  Hieronymian 
Schools.  Wessel,  Agri cola,  Reuchlin,  and  Hegius.  Jakob 
Wimpfeling.  Erasmus,  the  Leader  in  Humanistic  Educa¬ 
tion.  The  Furstenschulen  and  the  Gymnasien.  Me- 
lanchthon  and  His  Organization  of  Schools.  Sturm’s 
Gymnasium.  The  Early  Humanistic  Movement  in  Eng¬ 
land.  Greek  at  Oxford.  Greek  at  Cambridge.  Human¬ 
istic  Influences  at  the  Court.  Elyot’s  Governour.  Vives. 
Ascham’s  Scholemastey \  John  Colet  and  His  School  at 
St.  Paul’s.  Humanism  in  the  English  Grammar  Schools. 
Formalism  in  the  Grammar  Schools.  English  Grammar 
and  Public  Schools  To-day.  The  Grammar  Schools  of 
America.  The  Aim  of  Humanistic  Education  in  the 
North.  The  Connection  of  Northern  Educational  Organ¬ 
ization  with  the  Reformation.  The  Course  of  Study. 

The  Formalization  of  Humanistic  Education. 


CONTENTS 


Xlll 


CHAPTER  XV 

PAGE 

Educational  Influences  of  the  Protestants  .  .  179 

General  Causes  of  the  Reformation.  Luther’s  Revolt. 
Educational  Features  of  Luther’s  Religious  Works. 
Luther’s  Chief  Educational  Works.  The  Civic  Aim  of 
Education.  The  Organization  of  Education  by  the  State. 
Industrial  and  Academic  Training.  Religious,  Human¬ 
istic,  and  Other  Content  of  Education.  Rationality  in 
Method.  Melanchthon,  Sturm,  Bugenhagen,  Trotzen- 
dorf,  and  Neander.  Zwingli’s  Revolt.  Zwingli’s  Educa¬ 
tional  Foundations  and  Treatise.  Calvin’s  Revolt.  Calvin’s 
Encouragement  of  Education,  and  the  Work  of  Corderius. 
Spread  of  Calvinist  Education.  Knox  and  the  Elemen¬ 
tary  Schools  of  Scotland.  Henry  VIII’s  Revolt.  Effect 
upon  Education.  The  Civil  and  Universal  Aim  of  Protes¬ 
tant  Education.  The  Foundation  of  Elementary  Schools. 

Effect  upon  Secondary  Schools  and  Universities.  The 
Curricula.  The  Lapse  into  Formalism. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  Education  of  the  Catholics . 208 

The  Council  of  Trent.  Loyola  and  the  Foundation  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Constitutiones  and  the  Ratio 
Studiorum.  The  Lower  and  Upper  Colleges.  The  Hu¬ 
manistic  Curriculum  of  the  Lower  Colleges.  The  Philo¬ 
sophical  and  Theological  Courses  in  the  Upper  Colleges. 

The  Prcelectio.  Memorizing.  Reviews.  Emulation. 
Corporal  Punishment.  Estimate  of  the  Jesuit  Schools. 

The  Oratorian  Schools.  The  Little  Schools  of  the  Port 
Royalists.  The  Curriculum  and  Texts.  Methods.  The 
Closing  of  the  Little  Schools.  La  Salle  and  the  Christian 
Brethren.  The  Aim,  Organization,  Curriculum,  Method, 
and  Results.  Catholic  Education  of  Girls.  Fdnelon. 
Religious  and  Repressive  Aim  of  Catholic  Education. 

The  Organization  of  Catholic  Schools  and  Universities. 


xiv 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The  Humanistic  and  Religious  Curricula.  The  Teachers 
and  Methods.  Results  of  Education  during  the  Refor¬ 
mation. 

CHAPTER  XVII 

The  Beginnings  of  Realistic  Education  .  .  .  240 

The  Relation  of  Realism  to  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation.  The  Nature  of  Realism.  The  Earlier 
Realism,  Verbal  and  Social.  The  Earlier  Realists.  Rabe¬ 
lais.  The  Training  of  the  Whole  Man.  The  Informal 
Method.  The  Influence  of  Rabelais.  Montaigne.  His 
Aim,  Means,  Subjects,  and  Method  of  Education.  The 
Effects  of  Montaigne’s  Theories.  Mul caster.  Natural 
Education.  Elementary  Education.  Higher  Training. 
Education  of  Girls.  Improvements  in  Teaching.  Re¬ 
sults  of  Mulcaster’s  Positions.  Milton.  His  Definition 
of  Education.  His  ‘Academy.’  Early  Realism  in  Locke. 

His  Aim,  Means,  Content,  and  Method  of  Education. 
Influence  of  Locke’s  Thoughts .  The  Effect  of  the  Earlier 
Realism. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

Sense  Realism  in  Education . 262 

The  Development  of  Realism.  Bacon  and  his  New 
Method.  Solomon’s  House  and  the  Pansophic  Course. 

The  Value  of  Bacon’s  Method.  Ratich’s  Attempts  at 
School  Reform.  His  Extravagant  Claims.  His  Realistic 
Methods.  The  Educational  Influence  of  Ratich.  The 
Education  and  Earliest  Work  of  Comenius.  The  Janua 
Linguarum.  The  Vestibulum ,  Atrium ,  Orbis  Pictus ,  and 
Other  Janual  Works.  The  Didadica  Magna.  Pan- 
sophia.  The  Threefold  Aim  of  Education.  Universal 
Education.  The  Four  Periods  in  the  School  System. 

The  College  of  Pansophia.  Encyclopaedic  Course.  The 
Mother  School.  The  Vernacular  School.  The  Latin 
School.  The  University.  Method  of  Nature.  Disci¬ 
pline.  Effect  of  the  Comenian  Principles  upon  Education. 
Locke  as  a  Sense  Realist.  Realistic  Tendencies  in  the 
Elementary  Schools.  Secondary  Schools.  Universities. 


CONTENTS 


XV 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Educational  Influences  of  Puritanism,  Pietism,  and 
Rationalism . 

Reaction  to  the  Conditions  in  Church  and  State.  Puri¬ 
tanism  and  Its  Contributions  to  Education.  Results,  of 
Puritanism.  Rise  of  the  Pietists.  Francke.  His  Insti¬ 
tutions.  Aim,  Course,  Methods,  and  Influence.  Decline 
of  Pietism.  Rationalism  in  England  and  France. 
Locke’s  Disciplinary  Theory.  Effects  of  Locke’s  Edu¬ 
cational  Theories.  Voltaire  and  the  Encyclopedists. 
The  Hardening  of  the  Puritan,  Pietistic,  and  Rationalistic 
Movements. 


CHAPTER  XX 

The  Progress  before  Modern  Times  . 

The  Middle  Ages.  The  Awakening.  Preparation  for 
Rousseau  and  the  French  Revolution.  The  Modern  Spirit. 

Index  .... 


PAGE 

296 


315 

319 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


DURING  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  AND  THE 
TRANSITION  TO  MODERN  TIMES 

PART  I  — THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  PERIOD 

The  Middle  Ages  as  a  Period  of  Assimilation.  —  A 

present-day  historian  tersely  defines  the  *  problem  ’  of 
Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages  as  follows  :  — 

“To  make  out  of  the  barbarized  sixth  century,  stagnant  and  frag¬ 
mentary,  with  little  common  life,  without  ideals  or  enthusiasms,  the 
fifteenth  century  in  full  possession  again  of  a  common  world  civiliza¬ 
tion,  keen,  pushing,  and  enthusiastic.”  1 

According  to  this  interpretation,  it  was  the  office  of  the 
Middle  Ages  to  enable  the  rude  German  hordes,  who  had 
everywhere  taken  possession  of  the  decadent  ancient 
world,  to  rise  gradually  to  such  a  plane  of  intelligence 
and  achievement  that  they  might  absorb  the  civilization 
of  antiquity  and  become  its  carriers  to  modern  times. 
Through  the  conquest  of  the  Roman  world  by  these  bar¬ 
barian  tribes,  the  four  factors  which  were  destined  to  be 
the  most  influential  in  modern  civilization  —  the  Greek, 
the  Roman,  the  Christian,  and  the  German  —  came  to 
meet  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century  and  for  a 

1  George  Burton  Adams,  op.  cit.,  p.  n. 

B  I 


The  Middle 
Ages  gradu¬ 
ally  fused 
the  Greek, 
Roman,  and 
Christian 
elements 
with  the 
German, 


2 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  in  so  ( 
doing  re¬ 
garded  the 
Roman  insti¬ 
tutions  as  a 
completed 
system  to  be 
absolutely 
followed. 


time  to  exist  side  by  side.  And  it  was  the  mission  of  the 
succeeding  centuries  to  fuse  these  divergent  elements 
into  one  organic  whole. 

But  such  a  process  was  necessarily  slow.  Rome  had 
absorbed  and  combined  with  her  legal  and  political  insti¬ 
tutions  the  rich  intellectual  and  aesthetic  contributions  of 
Greece.  Also  in  becoming  Christian  she  had  institu¬ 
tionalized  this  religion  and  given  it  the  form  of  a  legal 
morality.  The  problem  now  was  the  assimilation  of  this 
culture  with  that  of  the  German  barbarians  who  had  con¬ 
quered  Rome,  and  the  uniting  with  the  Greek,  Roman, 
and  Christian  factors  of  the  freer  and  more  elastic 
institutions  of  these  people.  But  Rome  had  been 
greatly  sapped  of  her  vitality  and  strength,  and  nearly  a 
millennium  passed  before  these  diverse  elements  were 
blended. 

Yet  gradual  as  the  movement  was,  it  began  almost 
immediately.  While  still  flushed  with  their  victories, 
the  rough  warriors  must  have  found  themselves  in  the 
presence  and  under  the  spell  of  Roman  organization 
and  culture.  The  government,  wealth,  art,  and  technical 
skill  of  ancient  Rome  were  everywhere  evidenced  in  the 
roads,  bridges,  buildings,  and  cities  that  challenged  their 
interest  and  admiration.  The  concept  of  a  universal 
empire  as  the  only  possible  civil  order  had  been  impressed 
upon  the  Germans  through  long  contact  with  it.  They 
also  found  in  the  organization  of  the  Catholic  Church  a 
visible  enshrinement  of  this  imperial  idea,  which  spoke 
with  authority  and  finality  to  all  nations.  Moreover,  the 
classic  literature  and  the  Graeco-Roman  schools  were 
still  preserved,  though  in  a  diluted  form,  in  the  Christian 
educational  institutions.  The  barbarians  were  inevitably 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  superiority  of  Roman 
institutions1  and  civilization,  and  they  began,  ofttimes 
unconsciously,  to  imitate  and  borrow  from  what  must 
have  appeared  to  them  a  completed  and  absolute  system, 
divinely  sanctioned. 

1  Not  only  did  the  Germans  hold  in  mind  as  a  goal  of  perfection  the 
general  imperial  organization,  but  they  even  tried  to  retain  the  various 
offices  and  official  titles. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  PERIOD  3 


The  Middle  Ages  as  a  Period  of  Repression.  —  Conse¬ 
quently,  the  mediaeval  period  was  primarily  one  not  of 
progress,  but  of  absorption.  The  watchword  was  author¬ 
ity  and  the  conformity  of  the  individual  to  the  model 
set,  and  there  was  a  constant  tendency  to  realize  the 
ideals  of  life  in  concrete  form.  Therein  appears  both 
the  weakness  and  the  strength  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It 
was  only  through  the  formation  of  the  right  social  habits, 
or  institutions,  that  the  leavening  of  the  barbarians  was 
possible,  but  it  was  this  crystallization  through  authority 
that  made  individualism  and  further  ideals  difficult. 
Little  advance  could  be  made  until  the  social  habits 
could  be  reshaped  and  new  ideals  tolerated.  A  machine 
is  a  most  effective  and  economical  instrument,  but  it 
permits  no  variation,  originality,  or  advancement  over 
the  pattern.  Hence  Rashdall  most  aptly  characterizes 
the  situation  in  the  Middle  Ages,  when  he  says :  — 

“Ideals  pass  into  historic  forces  by  embodying  themselves  in 
institutions.  The  power  of  embodying  its  ideals  in  institutions  was 
the  peculiar  genius  of  the  mediaeval  mind,  as  its  most  conspicuous 
defect  lay  in  the  corresponding  tendency  to  materialize  them.”  1 

Assimilation  and  repression  are  thus  the  key  to  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  until  the  bondage  to  authority,  con¬ 
vention,  and  institutions  was  broken,  progress  was  im¬ 
possible.  But,  as  will  be  seen,  there  grew  up  within 
medievalism  itself  factors  that,  with  the  development 
of  intelligence,  were  destined  to  lead  to  individualism  and 
advancement.  Slowly  but  surely,  the  repression  was  re¬ 
moved,  and  modern  culture  grew  out  of  this  fusion  of  Ger¬ 
man  barbarism  with  Christianity  and  classical  antiquity. 

1  Universities  in  the  Middle  Ages ,  Vol.  I,  p.  5. 


This  resulted 
in  an  authori¬ 
tative  stand¬ 
ard  and  a 
subordina¬ 
tion  of  the 
individual  to 
the  model  set, 
and  progress 
was  almost 
impossible 
until  individ¬ 
ualism  was 
once  more 
tolerated. 


CHAPTER  II 


The  mediae¬ 
val  Church 
became 
the  guide, 
especially 
through  its 
monastic 
schools. 


Monasticism 
arose  as  a 
reaction  to 
the  prevail¬ 
ing  vice  of 
Roman  so¬ 
ciety. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 

In  all  this  mediaeval  assimilation,  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  Church  should  stand  as  the  chief  guide  and 
schoolmaster  of  the  Germanic  hosts.  Christianity  had 
become  the  authoritative  religion  of  the  Roman  world, 
and,  through  the  complete  organization  of  the  Church 
with  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  its  head,  its  power  became 
practically  unlimited.  Now  while  Christian  culture  and 
education  had  been  greatly  influenced  by  Graeco-Roman 
learning,  the  Church  had  become  very  suspicious  of  this 
training,  and  in  529,  by  the  decree  of  Justinian,  had  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  having  the  pagan  schools  closed.  This  left 
Christian  education  without  a  rival,  and,  although  the 
episcopal  schools  persisted  to  some  extent,  it  tended  to 
find  its  chief  expression  in  the  ‘monastic,’  or  fourth 
type  of  Christian  schools,1  with  their  reversion  to  the 
‘  otherworldly  ’  ideal. 

Rise  and  History  of  Monasticism.  —  But  to  under¬ 
stand  the  monastic  schools ,  which  were  so  much  wider 
and  more  enduring  in  range  of  influence  than  any  Chris¬ 
tian  type  which  had  preceded,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
examine  the  movement  and  institution  out  of  which  they 
arose.  Monasticism  resulted  in  a  time  of  moral  decay 
from  the  desire  of  some  within  the  Church  for  a  deeper 
religious  life.  By  the  third  century  Roman  society  had 
become  most  corrupt.  All  hope  of  self-government  had 
gone,  class  was  arrayed  against  class,  and  the  privileged 
orders  reveled  in  luxury  and  depravity,  while  the  rank 

1  For  a  brief  account  of  the  schools  of  Early  Christianity,  see  Graves, 
History  of  Education  before  the  Middle  Ages  (New  York,  1909),  pp.  278- 
296. 


4 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS  5 


and  file  were  poor  and  oppressed.  Religious  enthusiasm 
likewise  declined.  Christianity  was  no  longer  confined 
to  small  extra-social  groups  meeting  secretly,  but  was 
represented  in  all  walks  of  society,  and  mingled  with 
the  world.  It  had  become  thoroughly  secularized,  and 
even  the  clergy  had  in  many  instances  yielded  to  the 
prevailing  worldliness  and  vice.1  Under  these  circum¬ 
stances  there  were  Christians  who  felt  that  the  only 
hope  for  salvation  rested  in  fleeing  from  the  world  and 
its  temptations  and  taking  refuge  in  an  isolated  life  of 
holy  devotion. 

Hence  there  grew  up  within  Christianity  that  form 
of  solitary  living  known  as  monasticism,  with  its  ‘  asceti¬ 
cism,’  or  discipline  of  the  body  in  the  interest  of  the  high¬ 
est  spiritual  life.2  Some  of  the  elements  of  asceticism 
appeared  in  Christianity,  through  various  sects,  like  the 
Therapeutae,  Gnostics,  and  Montanists,  even  during  the 
first  two  centuries  of  its  history,  although  it  was  not 
until  the  third  century  that  any  number  of  Christians 
adopted  such  a  mode  of  living.  As  corruption  increased 
in  the  Roman  world,  many  abandoned  their  homes,  or 
were  driven  from  them  by  persecution.  They  withdrew 
farther  and  farther  from  society,  until  they  reached  the 
seclusion  of  the  mountains,  where  they  dwelt  alone  in 
caves.  Thus  these  first  Christian  hermits  were  literally 
‘  monks,’ 3  and  the  dreary  deserts  and  solitudes  of  lower 
Egypt  naturally  furnished  them  with  a  suitable  dwell¬ 
ing-place.  They  pursued  a  life  of  prayer,  contempla¬ 
tion,  and  repression  of  the  body,  even  to  the  extent  of 
practicing  vigil  and  fasting,  flagellation,  exhaustive  labor, 


Many  with¬ 
drew  from 
society  into 
the  deserts  of 
Egypt,  where 
they  led  a  life 
of  asceticism 
and  devotion. 


1  For  a  description  of  this  decadence  in  its  various  phases,  see  Graves, 
op.  cit.,  pp.  234-235,  267,  and  275-277. 

2  But  long  before  Christianity,  monasticism  existed  in  many  types  of 
religion  and  philosophy  and  among  a  variety  of  races  and  peoples.  Per¬ 
haps  it  appears  earliest  in  India,  with  the  Brahman  self-torture,  but  among 
the  Greeks,  as  early  as  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  the  Pythagoreans  established 
a  strict  ascetic  regime.  Somewhat  later,  there  were  similar  tendencies 
among  the  Cynics  and  the  Stoics,  and  in  Plato’s  emphasis  upon  the  ideal 
life  and  meditation,  especially  as  continued  in  Neoplatonism.  There  were 
also  several  ascetic  sects  among  the  Jews. 

3  The  word  is  derived  from  the  Greek  monos ,  which  signifies  *  alone.’ 


6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  first  re¬ 
cluse  was 
Paul,  who 
was  followed 
by  Anthony 
and  hosts  of 
others. 


Before  long, 
however, 
these  monks 
began  to  live 
together,  and 
the  first  mon¬ 
astery  was 
founded  by 
Pachomius 
about  the  s 
middle  of 
the  fourth 
century. 


This  form  of 
monasticism 
was  extended 
into  Europe 


and  merciless  exposure  to  heat  and  cold.  Their  food 
consisted  mostly  of  bread  and  water,  while  oil,  salt,  and 
such  fruits  and  vegetables  as  could  easily  be  obtained, 
may  occasionally  have  been  used  as  luxuries.  The  first 
to  court  this  life  of  isolation  and  repression  was  one 
Paul,  who  during  the  third  century  escaped  from  per¬ 
secution  into  the  Egyptian  desert,  and  was  generally 
regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  hermit  life.  He  was  fol¬ 
lowed  by  that  Anthony  who  is  reputed  to  have  had  so 
many  encounters  with  ‘the  evil  one/  and  by  hosts  of 
others  until  the  caves  of  Egypt  were  everywhere  filled 
with  recluses. 

The  social  instinct,  however,  still  existed  even  in  these 
anchorites,  and  before  long  the  abodes  of  the  more 
famous  hermits  were  surrounded  by  the  huts  and  dens 
of  disciples.  This  led  to  the  foundation  of  monasteries 
or  common  dwelling-houses,  in  which  the  monks  lived 
apart  in  separate  cells,  but  met  for  meals,  prayers,  com¬ 
munion,  and  counsel.1  The  first  monastery  was  organ¬ 
ized  by  Pachomius,  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  was  located  on  the  island  of  Tabennae  in 
the  Nile.  The  founder  divided  his  fourteen  hundred 
followers  into  bands  of  tens  and  hundreds,  with  an 
appropriate  official  over  each  group  and  with  all  finally 
subordinate  to  himself.2  This  form  of  monasticism  was 
more  humane  than  the  solitary,  and  soon  came  to  pre¬ 
vail.  The  influence  of  Pachomius  was  extended  over 
all  Egypt  and  into  Syria  and  Palestine  until  there  were 
some  seven  thousand  monks  living  under  his  ‘  rule  ’  or 
code. 

From  the  East  this  ccenobitic  (‘common  life’)  monas¬ 
ticism  was  introduced  into  Greece  by  Basil,  who  had 
studied  it  in  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Palestine,  and  into  Italy 


1  A  good  picture  of  this  type  of  Egyptian  monasticism  can  be  formed 
by  reading  the  description  of  Philammon’s  life  in  Abbot  Pambo’s  / aura  at 
Scetis,  given  in  Kingsley’s  Hypatia. 

2  He  could  not,  however,  have  been  known  as  abbot  (‘father’),  as  this 
term  was  not  for  some  time  restricted  to  the  superior  or  head,  but  was  ap¬ 
plied  to  every  monk. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


7 


and  Gaul  by  Athanasius  during  his  flight  from  Alexan¬ 
dria  to  escape  the  Arian  persecutions,  and  half  a  cen¬ 
tury  later  by  Jerome,  who  came  to  Rome  from  his 
monastery  in  Bethlehem  in  order  to  evangelize.  But 
monasticism  in  the  West  took  on  a  very  different  char¬ 
acter  from  that  of  the  Orient  or  even  from  that  in 
Greece.  The  passivity  in  living  and  the  self-torture  of 
the  East  could  not  appeal  to  the  energetic  people  of  the 
West  and  gave  way  to  more  active  pursuits  and  milder 
discipline.  The  codes  of  Pachomius  and  Basil  were 
replaced  by  those  of  St.  Augustine  and  Cassian  in 
the  fifth  century,  and  of  Benedict  in  the  sixth,  and 
the  monks  turned  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  the 
preservation  of  literature,  and  teaching,  under  these 
rules.  The  discipline  of  Benedict,  while  based  on  that 
of  his  predecessors,  was  far  broader  and  more  practical, 
and  had  a  wide  range  of  influence.  It  was  extended  by 
his  pupil,  St.  Maur,  into  Gaul,  and  in  the  eighth  cen¬ 
tury  was  widely  spread  by  Boniface,  ‘  the  apostle  to  the 
Germans.’ 

Meanwhile,  there  were  developing  in  Ireland  a  school 
of  theology  and  a  type  of  monasticism  of  quite  a  differ¬ 
ent  kind.  Britain  had  been  Christianized  while  still 
a  Roman  province,  but  during  the  fifth  century  the 
country  was  reheathenized  through  its  occupation  by 
the  Angles  and  Saxons.  The  Christianity  there  was 
crowded  back  into  Ireland  and  parts  of  Wales,  and, 
through  its  isolation  from  the  rest  of  the  Church,  came 
to  vary  from  that  of  Rome.  Irish  Christianity  adopted 
a  different  time  for  Easter,  and  other  peculiar  ecclesi¬ 
astical  usages,  and  preserved  a  high  development  of 
learning  for  some  time  after  it  had  been  driven  from  the 
Continent.  During  the  sixth  century,  through  a  fugitive 
monk  called  Columba,1  Celtic  Christianity  spread  as  a 

1  According  to  Montalembert,  O’Donnell,  or  *  Columba,’  was  con¬ 
demned  to  exile  as  the  result  of  a  quarrel  with  his  abbot  and  king  over  his 
making  a  copy  of  the  Psalter  surreptitiously.  See  The  Monks  of  the  West, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  15-24.  He  founded  a  monastery  upon  the  west  coast  of 
Scotland,  which  became  the  prototype  of  many  similar  institutions. 


by  Basil, 
Athanasius, 
and  Jerome, 
and  there, 
underAugus- 
tine,  Cassian, 
and  Benedict, 
it  turned 
toward  more 
active  pur¬ 
suits. 


In  Ireland  a 
different  type 
of  monasti¬ 
cism  arose, 
by  the  ab¬ 
sorption  of 
which  into 
Roman 
Christianity, 
learning  and 
progresswere 
greatly  stimu¬ 
lated. 


8 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Bene¬ 
dictine  ‘  rule  ’ 
was  generally 
adopted,  but, 
as  discipline 
grew  lax, 
various  re¬ 
form  orders 
of  monks 
arose. 


type  through  the  southern  part  of  Scotland  and  into 
Northumbria,  and  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries 
it  was  extended  throughout  Gaul.  Before  the  arrival 
of  Irish  Christianity  in  northern  England,  however, 
Roman  Catholicism  and  the  Benedictine  rule  had  been 
introduced  into  Kent  and  the  southern  kingdoms  by  a 
prior  named  Augustine,  who,  in  597,  had  been  sent  by 
the  pope  to  evangelize  England.  Within  a  couple  of 
generations  the  two  types  of  Christianity  came  seriously 
into  conflict,  especially  in  Northumbria,  until,  through 
the  king  of  that  territory,  Roman  Catholicism  was  recog¬ 
nized  as  authoritative  at -the  Council  of  Whitby  in  664, 
and  Celtic  Christianity  withdrew  to  Ireland  or  was  ab¬ 
sorbed  by  the  Roman  Church.  An  immense  enthusiasm 
for  the  church,  culture,  and  literature  of  Rome  resulted 
from  this  merging  of  the  rival  organizations,  and  the 
monasteries  of  England,  such  as  Wearmouth  and  Yar¬ 
row,  became  the  great  centers  of  learning  for  Europe. 

The  discipline  of  Benedict  continued  largely  to  control 
the  monasteries  of  Western  Europe.1  While  each  house 
remained  independent,  practically  all  adopted  the  *  rule  * 
as  Benedict  himself  wrote  it,  or  in  a  modified  form. 
But  as  the  monastic  lands  and  wealth  increased,  and 
the  monks  grew  luxurious,  and  lax  in  their  attention  to 
religious  duties,  from  time  to  time  there  sprang  up 
new  movements,  which  undertook  to  introduce  reforms 
into  the  monastic  system  of  living.  Of  such  a  nature 
were  the  efforts  of  Benedict  of  Aniane,  the  Cluniac 
monasteries,2  Dunstan  in  England,  St.  Bruno,  and  the 
later  orders  known  as  Augustinians,  Carthusians,  Cister¬ 
cians,  Franciscans,  and  Dominicans.3  Every  succeeding 
foundation  strove  to  outdo  all  the  others  in  strictness, 


1  The  popularity  of  the  Benedictine  rule  was  due  in  large  part  to  Pope 
Gregory  I  (590-604),  who,  as  a  former  monk  of  the  order,  gave  it  the 
benefit  of  his  influence,  and  through  the  missionary,  Augustine,  another 
Benedictine,  it  received  authoritative  standing  in  England. 

2  For  Cluny,  Citeaux,  Camaldoli,  etc.,  as  seats  of  reform  of  the  Bene¬ 
dictine  monasticism,  see  Milman’s  Latin  Christianity ,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  228- 
236. 

3  See  Chapter  VIII. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


9 


but  the  ‘  rule  ’  of  each  one  had  its  ultimate  basis  in  that 
of  Benedict. 

The  Rule  of  Benedict.  —  Owing  to  the  importance  of 
the  Benedictine  code,  it  will  be  necessary  to  examine 
some  of  its  provisions,  and  note  their  effect  upon  mo¬ 
nastic  institutions.  The  ‘  rule  ’  consists  of  a  prologue 
and  seventy-three  chapters,  and  deals  with  the  organ¬ 
ization,  worship,  discipline,  admission,  ordination,  and 
other  administrative  functions  of  a  monastery.1  Bene¬ 
dict  appreciated  the  temperament  of  the  West  and  the 
needs  of  the  times,  and  gave  especial  prominence  to 
the  doctrines  of  labor  and  of  systematic  reading.  His 
forty-eighth  chapter  declares  :  — 

“Idleness  is  the  great  enemy  of  the  soul,  therefore  the  monks 
should  always  be  occupied,  either  in  manual  labor  or  in  holy  reading. 
The  hours  for  these  occupations  should  be  arranged  according  to 
the  seasons,  as  follows:  From  Easter  to  the  first  of  October,  the 
monks  shall  go  to  work  at  the  first  hour  and  labor  until  the  fourth 
hour,  and  the  time  from  the  fourth  to  the  sixth  hour  shall  be  spent 
in  reading.  After  dinner,  which  comes  at  the  sixth  hour,  they  shall 
lie  down  and  rest  in  silence ;  but  any  one  who  wishes  may  read,  if 
he  does  it  so  as  not  to  disturb  any  one  else.  Nones  shall  be  ob¬ 
served  a  little  earlier,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  hour,  and  the 
monks  shall  go  back  to  work,  laboring  until  vespers.” 

These  seven  hours  of  labor  might  be  increased  in  har¬ 
vest  time,  if  necessary,  while  in  winter,  from  October 
to  Lent,  an  extra  hour  was  added  to  the  two  hours  of 
reading,  and  during  Lent  still  a  fourth  hour. 

By  the  requirement  of  manual  labor  Benedict  pro¬ 
fessedly  intended  to  keep  the  robust  and  active  monks 
from  temptations  and  from  brooding,2  but  it  was  event¬ 
ually  by  this  means  also  that  the  desperate  material 


1  For  the  complete  ‘  rule,’  see  Thatcher  and  McNeal,  Source  Book  for 
Mediceval  History ,  pp.  432-485. 

2  In  Lecky  we  read  that  “  a  melancholy,  leading  to  desperation, 
known  to  theologians  under  the  name  of  ‘  acedia,’  was  not  uncommon  in 
monasteries.  The  frequent  suicides  of  monks,  sometimes  to  escape  the 
world,  sometimes  through  despair  at  their  inability  to  quell  the  propensities 
of  the  body,  sometimes  through  insanity  produced  by  their  mode  of  life, 
and  by  their  dread  of  surrounding  demons,  were  noticed  by  the  early 
Church.” 


The  Benedio 
tine  ‘  rule  ’ 
required  at 
least  seven 
hours  of 
manual  labor 
and  two 
hours  of 
reading ; 


the  labor  re¬ 
sulted  in 
great  ma¬ 
terial  im¬ 
provement, 
and  the  read¬ 
ing  in  the 
preservation 
of  learning. 


10 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


For  the  read¬ 
ing,  manu¬ 
scripts  had 
to  be  col¬ 
lected  and 
reproduced, 
and  the 
library 
became  a 
feature  of 
each  monas¬ 
tery. 


conditions,  produced  by  the  barbarian  inroads,  were 
largely  reduced  to  law  and  order.  Through  the  agency 
of  the  monasteries,  swamps  were  drained,  forests  cleared, 
and  the  desert  regions  reclaimed ;  the  peasants  were 
trained  in  agriculture,  and  the  various  crafts  and  in¬ 
dustries  were  preserved ;  the  abandoned  fields  were 
repeopled,  and  the  beginnings  of  cities  formed  anew. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  requirement  of  daily  reading 
proved  the  means  of  preserving  some  semblance  of 
learning  and  reviving  a  literary  education. 

The  Libraries,  Multiplication  of  Manuscripts,  and  Origi¬ 
nal  Writings  of  the  Monasteries.  —  If  the  monks  were 
to  read,  manuscripts  had  to  be  collected  and  reproduced. 
Hence  the  monasteries  became  the  depositories  of  an¬ 
cient  literature  and  learning,  and  the  interest  in  the 
collection  and  care  of  books  increased  as  monasticism 
developed.  Benedict,  in  the  chapter  from  which  we 
quoted  above,  gives  some  directions  for  the  care  of 
books.  He  even  mentions  a  ‘  library,’  but  probably  the 
books  were  not  kept  in  a  special  room  at  first.  They 
seem  to  have  been  placed  in  the  cloister  of  the  monastery, 
where  they  would  be  most  accessible  to  the  monks,  and 
locked  in  presses  when  not  in  use;  but  before  long  a 
regular  library  room  with  seats  and  other  conveniences 
for  reading  was  arranged.  The  Cluniacs  further  ap¬ 
pointed  a  special  official  to  care  for  the  library  and 
the  books,  and  the  Carthusians  and  Cistercians  even 
allowed  outsiders  to  borrow  books  upon  stated  terms, 
and  seem  to  have  provided  two  sets  of  books,  for  lend¬ 
ing  and  reference  respectively.  But  the  monastic  libra¬ 
ries  were  very  limited  both  in  the  number  of  the  books 
and  the  character  of  their  subject  matter.  The  works 
in  the  average  monastery  were  mostly  religious  in  nature, 
as  literature  for  its  own  sake  was  a  conception  unheard 
of  in  monastic  times.  Most  libraries,  too,  contained  but 
a  few  hundred  volumes,  although  a  few,  like  Fulda, 
St.  Gall,  and  Croyland,  came  to  have  a  thousand  or  two, 
and  the  Novalese  in  Italy,  according  to  Montalembert, 
had  risen  to  sixty-five  hundred  by  the  time  of  its  de- 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


II 


struction  in  the  tenth  century.  Nevertheless,  the  library 
became  so  important  a  feature  of  the  monastic  environ¬ 
ment  that  in  1170  a  sub-prior  of  Normandy  voiced  a 
general  sentiment  when  he  declared :  claustrum  sine 
armario  est  quasi  castrum  sine  armamentario  (‘  a  mon¬ 
astery  without  a  library  is  like  a  castle  without  an 
armory  ’). 

The  multiplication  of  manuscripts  for  the  sake  of  ob¬ 
taining  duplicates  for  the  monks  or  for  exchange  with 
other  houses  soon  became  a  part  of  the  work  of  the 
monasteries.1  Those  who  were  especially  skilled  or 
were  too  weak  or  disabled  to  carry  on  rough  toil,  were 
allowed  to  put  in  their  seven  hours  of  labor  in  making 
copies  of  manuscripts.  Others  must  also  have  under¬ 
taken  it  when  the  weather  made  it  impossible  to  work 
outside,  and  in  the  convents  that  eventually  arose  for 
women  the  copying  of  manuscripts  was  the  chief  form 
of  labor.  Each  monastery  soon  had  a  scriptorium  (‘  writ¬ 
ing-room  ’)  in  one  end  of  the  building,  and  occasionally 
regular  cells  for  copying  were  provided.  While  copies 
were  multiplied  mostly  of  the  Scripturce  Sacrce  (‘  sacred 
writings’),2  the  Christian  Fathers,  the  missals,  and  brevi¬ 
aries,  many  of  the  Latin  classics  likewise  helped  to 
occupy  the  time  of  the  monks,  and  were  in  this  way 
preserved  for  the  day  of  awakening.  Although  much 
of  the  copying  may  have  been  done  automatically,  with 
more  regard  for  neatness  and  ornamentation  than  ac¬ 
curacy  or  meaning,  it  was  intended  that  the  content  of 
the  works  should  have  its  intellectual  and  moral  influence 
upon  the  copyists.  This  multiplication  and  exchange 
of  manuscripts  by  the  monks  must  have  been  main¬ 
tained  upon  rather  a  large  scale.  Until  the  cathedrals, 
palaces,  and  castles  also  came  to  collect  manuscripts, 
and,  through  the  art  of  printing,  copies  became  more 
common,  the  monasteries  were  engaged  in  what  might 
be  termed  a  species  of  book-trade. 

1  It  was  begun  at  Viviers,  Italy,  in  539  by  Cassiodorus,  but  the  example 
was  soon  followed  by  all  the  Benedictine  monasteries. 

2  This  included  not  only  the  Scriptures,  but  all  other  works  elucidating 
religious  or  ecclesiastical  truths. 


This  resulted 
in  the  exten¬ 
sive  copying 
of  manu¬ 
scripts,  both 
sacred  and 
secular,  and 
a  species  of 
book-trade 
in  the  monas¬ 
teries. 


12 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  monks 
also  pro¬ 
duced  origi¬ 
nal  writ¬ 
ings,— 
religious, 
moral,  and 
historical. 


The  require¬ 
ment  of  read¬ 
ing  necessi¬ 
tated  the 
organization 
of  schools  in 
the  monas¬ 
teries, 


But  the  monasteries  did  not  confine  their  efforts  to 
copying  the  works  of  others.  In  fact,  it  has  gradually 
come  to  be  realized  that  the  monks  were  the  authors  of 
a  vast  amount  of  original  literature.  While  the  sub¬ 
ject  matter  is  somewhat  circumscribed,  the  quantity  of 
monastic  writings  illustrates  how  absurd  was  the  old 
notion  of  the  ‘  Dark  Ages.’  Most  of  their  productions 
were  upon  religious  topics,  such  as  commentaries  upon 
the  Scriptures  or  the  Christian  Fathers,  The  Lives  of 
the  Saints,  and  the  sermons  or  moral  tales  called  Gesta 
Romanorum  (‘  Deeds  of  the  Romans  ’),*  but  they  also 
wrote  histories  of  the  Church,  the  monasteries,  and  the 
times.  History,  however,  was  not  viewed  in  those  days 
so  much  with  reference  to  the  facts  as  to  the  glory  and 
advancement  of  the  Church,  and  these  accounts  are  con¬ 
sequently  filled  with  superstition,  inaccuracy,  bias,  and 
impossibility.  They  are,  nevertheless,  practically  the 
only  documents  of  the  times  that  we  possess.  After 
making  due  allowance  for  the  view-point  of  the  writers, 
we  shall  get  from  them  the  best  picture  of  the  life, 
thought,  and  institutions  of  at  least  the  earlier  Middle 
Ages. 

Organization  of  the  Monastic  Education.  —  The  life  in 
the  monasteries  was  a  species  of  education  in  itself,  and 
even  in  the  ‘rule’  of  Benedict  there  was  no  provision 
for  anything  more  formal.  However,  since  very  early 
the  monks  were  required  to  read,  collect  libraries,  and 
copy  manuscripts,  it  is  not  surprising  that  regular  schools 
had  arisen  within  the  monasteries  even  a  century  before 
Benedict’s  time.  And  by  the  ninth  century  nearly  all 
monastic  houses  had  also  schools  for  the  children  of  the 
neighborhood,  and,  as  time  passed,  many  prescriptions 
concerning  education  were  added  to  the  Benedictine 
code.  Literary  education  was  at  first  recognized  and 
then  emphasized  until  all  the  monasteries  of  repute  were 
also  known  for  the  learning  and  education  maintained. 
Such,  for  example,  were  Monte  Cassino,  Bobbio,  Pom- 

1  These  Gesta  Romanorum  were  merely  popular  tales  {fabliaux')  that 
had  been  given  a  moral  twist. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


13 


posa,  and  Classe  in  Italy;  Fulda,  Reichenau,  Hirschau, 
Gandersheim,  Wissenbourg,  and  Hersfeld  in  Germany; 
St.  Gall  in  Switzerland  ;  Fontenelle,  Fleury,  Ferrieres, 
Corbie,  Tours,  Toul,  Cluny,  and  Bee  in  France;  and 
Canterbury,  York,  Wearmouth  and  Yarrow,  Glaston¬ 
bury,  St.  Albans,  Croyland,  and  Malmesbury  in  Eng¬ 
land ;  all  of  which  furnished  excellent  advantages  for 
the  times.  Many  other  monasteries,  however,  gave  little 
or  no  attention  to  learning.  The  course  may  often  have 
lasted  eight  or  ten  years,  as  boys  of  ten  or  even  less 
were  sometimes  received  into  the  monastic  schools,  and 
no  one  could  become  a  regular  member  of  the  order  be¬ 
fore  he  was  eighteen.  Later,  boys  were  also  admitted 
who  never  expected  to  enter  the  order,  although  they 
were  to  be  priests.  These  latter  were  called  externi 
(‘  outsiders  ’)  in  distinction  to  the  oblati  (‘those  offered’), 
who  were  preparing  to  become  monks. 

The  Three  Ideals  of  the  Monastic  Education.  —  While 
some  importance  was  thus  attached  to  learning  and  in¬ 
tellectual  development,  the  main  aim  of  monastic  educa¬ 
tion  was  the  discipline  and  repression  of  the  body.  The 
training  in  all  its  aspects  was  primarily  intended  to  make 
monks.*  It  was  a  course  in  ascetic  living,  and  its  goal  is 
summed  up  in  the  three  ideals  that  appear  in  the  usual 
oath  of  a  monk  before  admission,  of  which  the  following 
is  an  example  :  — 

“  I,  brother  (name),  a  humble  monk  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Denis 
in  France,  in  the  diocese  of  Paris,  in  the  name  of  God,  the  Virgin 
Mary,  St.  Denis,  St.  Benedict,  and  all  the  saints,  and  of  the  abbot  of 
this  monastery,  do  promise  to  keep  the  vows  of  obedience ,  chastity , 
and  poverty.  I  also  promise,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  steadfast¬ 
ness  and  conversion  of  life,  according  to  the  rules  of  this  monastery 
and  the  traditions  of  the  holy  fathers.” 

These  three  ideals,  —  ‘  obedience,  chastity,  and  pov¬ 
erty,’  represented  the  various  practices  deemed  neces¬ 
sary  in  monastic  life.  Each  concept  monasticism  sought 
to  defend  by  quotations  from  the  Bible,  and  only  by 
their  joint  practice  and  ingraining  in  the  life  of  the 
individual  was  it  believed  that  the  soul  could  be  purified 


and  a  course 
of  from  eight 
to  ten  years 
came  about. 


The  chief 
purpose  of 
monastic 
education 
was  ex¬ 
pressed  in 
the  ideals  of 
obedience, 
chastity,  and 
poverty. 


14 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  subject 
matter  soon 
came  to  be 
the  Graeco- 
Roman 
Seven  Lib¬ 
eral  Arts,  — 


and  saved.  ‘  Obedience  ’  was  felt  to  be  an  essential 
ideal  for  the  training  of  a  monk,  as  his  superiors  were 
held  to  be  the  representatives  of  God,  and  the  effect  of 
this  submission  upon  the  untamed  Germans  was  most 
beneficial.  By  ‘  chastity  ’  the  monastics  meant  celibacy, 
and  this  was  believed  to  be  ‘  more  blessed  than  mar¬ 
riage,’  as  one  could  accomplish  so  much  more  for  reli¬ 
gion  if  his  attention  were  not  distracted  by  family  duties. 
Likewise,  the  monks  felt  that  it  would  be  difficult  for 
one  who  was  not  wedded  to  ‘  poverty  ’  to  escape  the 
hardening  and  debauching  influences  of  the  time. 

Thus  monastic  education  sought  for  the  sake  of  salva¬ 
tion  to  oppose  three  of  the  fundamental  obligations  of 
the  existing  society,  —  allegiance  to  the  state,  care  of  the 
family,  and  economic  provision  for  the  future,  and  in 
this  sense  it  might  be  regarded  as  anti-social.  To  come 
to  such  a  conclusion  would  be,  however,  to  view  a 
mediaeval  institution  from  the  modern  point  of  view,  as 
well  as  to  ignore  the  tremendous  contribution  to  social 
development  made  by  these  ideals.  However  unsuited 
they  may  seem  at  the  present  time,  it  was  through  them 
that  the  lives  of  the  crude  and  ruthless  warriors  of  the 
day  were  softened,  and  society  was  to  a  large  extent 
reorganized  upon  a  higher  and  more  effective  level. 

The  Monastic  Course  of  Study  and  the  Seven  Liberal 
Arts.  —  The  subject  matter  that  was  used  by  the  mo¬ 
nastic  schools  to  carry  out  these  ideals  varied  from  time 
to  time.  In  the  first  schools,  founded  by  Cassian,  the 
course  was  of  an  elementary  and  narrow  sort,  and  was 
intended  to  prepare  for  only  the  bare  duties  of  the  mo¬ 
nastic  life.  The  embryo  monks  were  required  to  learn 
to  read,  in  order  to  study  the  Bible ;  to  write,  that  they 
might  copy  the  sacred  books ;  and  to  calculate,  for  the 
sake  of  computing  Church  festivals.  This  limited  train¬ 
ing  became  even  more  formal  and  illiberal  under  the 
immediate  successors  of  Cassian,  but  by  the  time  of 
Benedict,  the  Christians,  having  succeeded  in  establish¬ 
ing  their  ideals,  felt  that  the  pagan  culture  was  no 
longer  threatening  and  began  to  introduce  the  Graeco- 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


15 


Roman  learning  into  the  course  of  study.  By  this  time 
the  pagan  authors  themselves  had  somewhat  fallen  into 
disuse,  but  practically  none  of  the  actual  knowledge  of 
the  classical  times  had  disappeared.  It  remained  in 
that  condensed  and  rather  dry  form  known  as  the 
Seven  Liberal  Arts. 

This  canon  of  the  proper  studies,  which  was  adopted 
by  the  monastic  and  other  mediaeval  schools,  is  of  so 
much  importance  as  to  demand  a  detailed  account  both 
of  its  origin  and  its  content.  It  was  a  gradual  evolu¬ 
tion  from  Graeco-Roman  days,  but  became  the  especial 
topic  for  many  treatises  during  the  fifth  and  sixth  cen¬ 
turies.1  The  discrimination  of  these  liberal  studies  may 
be  said  to  have  begun  with  Plato}  whose  scheme  of 
education  included  two  groups  of  subjects,  —  the  lower, 
consisting  of  gymnastics,  musical  practice,  and  letters, 
and  the  higher,  made  up  of  arithmetic,  geometry,  musi¬ 
cal  theory,  and  astronomy.  These  ‘  liberal  ’  subjects, 
during  the  later  days  of  Greece  and  the  Roman  Repub¬ 
lic,  gradually  combined  with  the  ‘  practical  ’  studies  of 
the  sophists, — rhetoric  and  dialectic,  and,  after  various 
changes,  the  pagan  course  settled  down  about  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  Christian  era  into  grammar  (or  literature), 
rhetoric,  and  dialectic,  arithmetic,  geometry,  music,  and 
astronomy.  It  is  known,  for  example,  that  when  the 
Roman  Varro  (1 16-27  b.c.)  wrote  upon  the  Hellenized 
school  curriculum,  he  included  all  seven,  although  he 
added  also  medicine  and  architecture. 

While  other  writers  of  later  Rome  were  not  as  definite 
in  their  conception  of  the  liberal  arts  and  omitted  one  or 
another  of  the  subjects  in  their  treatment,  by  the  time 
of  the  decadence  of  Roman  education,  in  the  fourth 
century  a.d.,  this  canon  of  the  Greek  schools  must  have 
become  fairly  well  fixed.  The  best  illustration  is  found 
in  the  Latin  writer,  Martianus  Capella ,  who  in  the  early 

1  An  interesting  and  scholarly  discussion  of  the  subject  is  found  in  Abel- 
son’s  The  Seven  Liberal  Arts  (New  York,  1906),  and  a  more  detailed 
account  of  ‘  grammar  ’  and  ‘  rhetoric  ’  in  Paetow’s  The  Arts  Course  at 
Mediceval  Universities  (Urbana,  Illinois,  1910). 


grammar, 
rhetoric,  and 
dialectic,  and 
arithmetic, 
geometry, 
music,  and 
astronomy. 


This  canon 
had  become 
well  fixed  by 
the  fourth 
century,  and 
encyclopae¬ 
dic  treatises 
were  written 
by  Capella, 
St.  Augus¬ 
tine,  Boe¬ 
thius,  Cassio- 
dorus,  and 
Isidore. 


l6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


part  of  the  fifth  century  produced  a  treatise  upon  the 
seven  liberal  arts,  known  as  De  Nuptiis  Philologies  et 
Mercurii.  It  is  a  dry  allegorical  account  of  the  marriage 
of  the  god  Mercury  with  the  congenial  maiden  Philology, 
at  which  each  of  the  seven  bridesmaids,  —  Grammatica , 
Dialectica ,  Rhet orica,  Geometrica ,  Arithmetical  Astro - 
nomia ,  and  Harmonia ,  narrates  her  antecedents  and  de¬ 
scribes  the  subject  she  represents.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  the  Christians  began  to  realize  that  this  pagan 
course  might  be  of  service  to  them  in  the  study  of 
theology,  and  began  themselves  to  write  on  the  liberal 
arts.  Even  St.  Augustine  (354-430)  justified  these 
studies  on  the  ground  of  ‘  despoiling  the  Egyptians,’  and 
wrote  treatises  upon  all  of  them,  except  astronomy. 
Thus  he  most  fully  influenced  the  Western  world  in 
accepting  this  curriculum,  but  a  formulator  of  the  liberal 
arts  whose  works  were  more  widely  read  in  the  Middle 
Ages  was  the  supposed  Christian,  Boethius 1  (481-525). 
He  wrote  especially  upon  logic  and  ethics,  which  made 
up  the  content  of  the  mediaeval  ‘dialectic,’  and  upon 
arithmetic,  geometry,  and  music.  A  further  contribution 
was  made  in  the  sixth  century  by  Cassiodorus ,2  the 
founder,  and  later  the  head,  of  the  monastery  of  Viviers, 
who  in  his  De  Artibus  et  Disciplinis  Liberalium Literarum 
(‘  On  the  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  ’)  first  regularly 
used  the  term  ‘the  seven  liberal  arts,’  and  justified  this 
specific  number  by  reference  to  the  seven  pillars  of 
wisdom  mentioned  in  Proverbs.3  From  this  time  on  the 
seven  liberal  arts  were  recognized  by  the  Christians  as 
the  orthodox  secular  studies  preparatory  to  theology. 
With  Isidore  (566-636),  the  bishop  of  Seville,  the  term 
becomes  definitely  fixed,  and  the  first  three  subjects  are 
classed  as  the  trivium  and  the  other  four  as  the  quad- 

1  He  was  claimed  as  a  Christian  and  his  writings  were  much  copied 
and  used  by  the  monastic  schools,  but  while  some  of  his  expressions  might 
be  so  interpreted,  he  was  undoubtedly  pagan  in  most  of  his  conceptions. 

2  The  early  part  of  his  activity  was  spent  as  chief  counsellor  to  Theodoric, 
the  Ostrogothic  king,  who  had  defeated  Odoacer  and  taken  possession  of 
Italy.  See  also  footnote,  p.  II. 

3  Proverbs,  IX,  1. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


1 7 


rivium.  This  distinction  appeared  in  his  Etymologic v 
or  Origines ,  an  encyclopaedic  work,  containing  all  the 
meager  knowledge  of  the  day,  which  he  wrote  for  his 
monks  and  secular  clergy.  The  first  three  of  its  twenty 
books  treated  the  seven  liberal  arts,  and  the  trivialities 
and  absurdities  they  contain  mark  the  retrogression  in 
learning  that  had  gradually  come  about  in  the  successive 
treatises.  However,  from  this  time  on  the  program  of 
the  seven  liberal  arts  was  traditional  in  mediaeval  edu¬ 
cation,  and  Isidore  became  the  chief  authority  in  the 
monastic  schools. 

But  while  at  no  time  after  the  sixth  century  did  the 
Church  or  the  monastic  schools  show  themselves  seri¬ 
ously  hostile  to  any  of  these  secular  studies,  certain  of 
the  liberal  arts  were  more  emphasized  at  various  periods, 
and  the  quality  of  instruction  in  some  subjects  varied  at 
different  times.  The  importance  attached  to  a  subject 
seems  in  each  case  to  have  been  in  keeping  with  the 
needs  of  the  period.  Up  to  the  twelfth  century,  since 
an  acquaintance  with  the  Latin  language  and  literature 
was  absolutely  necessary,  and  dialectic  and  mathematics 
were  as  yet  but  little  developed,  stress  was  laid  upon  the 
study  of  grammar  and  rhetoric,  but,  as  will  appear  in 
the  chapter  on  Scholasticism,  in  the  later  centuries  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  when  cogency  in  thought  and  argu¬ 
ment  had  become  all  important,  dialectic  was  emphasized, 
and  when  mathematical  knowledge  came  in  with  the 
Saracens,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy  were 
especially  favored  by  the  stronger  minds. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  while  this  cur¬ 
riculum  was  not  a  broad  one,  the  scope  was  much  wider 
than  would  be  supposed  from  the  mere  names  of  the 
subjects.  ‘  Grammar  ’  was  simply  an  introduction  to 
literature,  and,  after  gaining  some  facility  in  Latin 
through  simple  proverbs,  epigrams,  and  fables,  the 
pupils  read  some  of  the  classic  and  Christian  authors 
themselves.1  The  works  most  read  seem  to  have  been, 

1  Recent  investigation  has  shown  that  the  amount  of  classic  literature 
was  beyond  the  belief  of  the  most  enthusiastic  medievalists.  See  Specht, 
Geschichte  des  Unterrichtswesens  in  Deutschland \  pp.  296-394. 


Until  the 
twelfth 
century, 
grammar 
and  rhetoric 
were  most 
prominent, 
but  after  that 
were  forced 
aside  by  the 
development 
of  dialectic 
and  mathe¬ 
matics. 


All  subjects 
were  much 
broader  in 
content  than 
would  be 
supposed 
from  the 
names. 


1 8 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


on  the  one  hand,  first  and  foremost  the  Aineid  of 
Vergil,1  and  then  some  of  Terence,  Horace,  Statius, 
Lucan,  Persius,  and  Juvenal;  and  on  the  other,  Juven- 
cus,  Prudentius,  and  Sedulius.  But  little  of  the  Greek 
literature,  however,  was  known,  except  through  the  me¬ 
dium  of  translations.2  ‘  Rhetoric,’  which,  in  accordance 
with  mediaeval  needs,  was  intended  especially  as  an  aid  to 
writing  official  letters  and  drawing  up  legal  documents, 
had  to  include  also  some  knowledge  of  history  and  law.3 
While  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  dialectic  was  similar 
to  the  formal  logic  of  to-day,  it  paved  the  way  in  the 
later  period  for  the  problems  of  metaphysics.  ‘  Arith¬ 
metic  ’  consisted  at  first  of  little  more  than  the  calcula¬ 
tion  of  Church  festivals,  but  in  the  tenth  century,  with 
the  introduction  of  columnal  calculation,  and  later  of  the 
Arabic  notation  and  symbols,  the  content  was  very 
greatly  increased.  Similarly,  ‘  geometry,’  which  from 
the  first  included  some  knowledge  of  geography  and 
geometrical  concepts,  was  gradually  enlarged  to  embrace 
the  complete  system  of  Euclid  and  all  the  existing  knowl¬ 
edge  of  geography  and  surveying.  Likewise,  while 
*  astronomy  ’  was  at  first  limited  to  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  courses  of  the  planets  and  the  changes  of  season, 
Ptolemy’s  treatise  and  Aristotle  On  the  Heavens  gradu¬ 
ally  found  their  way  in  through  the  Saracens,  and,  at 
the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  considerable  mathematical 

1  During  the  Middle  Ages  Vergil  was  esteemed  as  the  embodiment  of 
wisdom,  and,  while  the  Christians  tried  to  break  from  him  as  evil  in  doc¬ 
trine,  they  seem  to  have  been  quite  unable.  Such  features  of  his  writings 
as  were  inconsistent  with  the  thought  and  ethics  of  the  age  were  harmon¬ 
ized  by  regarding  them  as  allegorical.  As  his  wisdom  came  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  more  than  human,  legends  grew  up  in  which  he  figured  as  a  prophet 
and  magician.  From  such  tales,  when  expanded  and  embellished,  there 
sprang  the  material  for  various  Old  French  romans  and  fabliaux.  See 
Compare tti’s  Vergil  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

2  Greek  was  preserved  somewhat  longer  in  the  British  Isles,  but  prob¬ 
ably  not  even  Alcuin  was  much  acquainted  with  the  original  literature. 
The  pagan  classics  were  generally  distrusted  by  men  who  were  absorbed  in 
saving  their  souls. 

3  Later,  this  phase  of  rhetoric  developed  into  a  professional  branch 
known  as  ars  dictaminis  or  dictamen  prosaicum ,  which,  while  short-lived, 
gave  birth  in  Italy  to  the  more  specialized  ars  notaria,  which  was  closely 
related  to  civil  law.  See  Paetow,  The  Arts  Course ,  Chapter  III. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS  1 9 

astronomy  and  physics  were  included.  And  although 
‘  music  ’  comprehended  at  the  beginning  only  sacred 
compositions,  in  the  end  it  covered  a  broad  study  of  the 
history  and  theory  of  music.  Thus,  as  the  Middle 
Ages  developed,  while  the  content  of  the  course  of  study 
in  the  monastic,  as  in  the  other,  schools  varied  from  time 
to  time,  it  could  at  no  period  be  considered  really  meager. 

The  Methods  of  Teaching  and  the  Texts  Used  in  the 
Monastic  Schools.  —  So,  too,  in  the  matter  of  method, 
while  the  teachers  of  the  monastic  schools  were  far  from 
attaining  to  modern  theory,  they  seem  to  have  possessed 
some  pedagogical  skill.  Their  interest  in  the  art  of  in¬ 
struction  is  also  shown  in  the  fact  that,  beside  such  gen¬ 
eral  encyclopaedic  works  as  those  of  Capella,  Boethius, 
Cassiodorus,  and  Isidore,  a  large  number  of  texts  upon 
each  one  of  the  liberal  arts  has  survived. 

The  general  method  of  teaching  was  that  of  question 
and  answer.  As  an  illustration  of  the  drill  of  the  times 
when  applied  to  the  first  word  of  the  ^Eneid,  the  follow¬ 
ing  has  been  extracted  from  Priscian  :  — 

11  What  part  of  speech  is  arma  ?  ”  “  A  noun.” 

11  Of  what  sort  ?  ”  u  Common.” 

“  Of  what  class  ?  ”  “  Abstract.” 

“  Of  what  gender  ?  ”  “  Neuter.” 

“  Why  neuter  ?  ”  “  Because  all  nouns  whose  plurals  end  in  a  are 

neuter.” 

“  Why  is  not  the  singular  used  ?  ”  “  Because  this  noun  expresses 

many  different  things.” 

As  copies  of  the  various  books  were  scarce,  the  in¬ 
structor  often  resorted  to  dictation,  explaining  the  mean¬ 
ing  as  he  read,  and  the  pupils  took  the  passage  down 
upon  their  tablets  and  committed  it.  The  reading-books 
preparatory  to  the  study  of  literature,  many  of 
which  are  still  extant,  were  generally  arranged  by  each 
teacher,  and  careful  attention  was  given  to  the  etymo¬ 
logical  and  literary  study  of  the  authors  to  be  read. 
There  naturally  was  an  unusually  large  number  of  com¬ 
mentaries  upon  Vergil.1 

1  See  footnote  1  upon  p.  18.  Abelson  speaks  of  these  commentaries  as 
divided  into  four  groups,  —  literary,  rhetorical,  eulogistic,  and  allegorical. 


In  method 
the  teachers 
showed  con¬ 
siderable 
interest 
and  skill, 
although 
dictation  and 
memory  had 
to  be  largely 
used. 


20 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Beside  the 
encyclopae¬ 
dic  writings 
on  the  liberal 
arts,  various 
texts  were 
produced 
upon  single 
subjects. 


As  to  texts,  the  leading  works  upon  grammar,  and 
those  upon  which  most  of  the  later  treatises  were  based, 
were  written  by  the  Roman  grammarians,  Donatus 
(fourth  century)  and  Priscian  (sixth  century).  These 
texts  were,  however,  poorly  adapted  to  boys  who  learned 
Latin  as  a  foreign  language,  and  during  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  there  sprang  up  a  series  of  gram¬ 
mars,  of  which  the  Doctrinale  of  Alexander  of  Villedieu, 
and  the  Grcecismus  of  Eberhard  of  Bethune,  were  the 
most  important.1  The  ‘  new  ’  grammars  devised  a  sys¬ 
tem  of  syntax,  and,  for  the  sake  of  memorizing,  were 
often  written  in  verse.  As  rhetoric  was  no  longer  con¬ 
cerned  with  declamation  and  panegyric,  the  rhetorical 
works  of  Cicero  and  Quintilian  were  rarely  used  as  texts 
on  the  subject,  although  the  writings  of  these  authors 
were  not  infrequently  referred  to  as  themselves  models 
of  the  best  style.  The  various  mediaeval  textbooks 
dealing  with  the  art  of  prose  writing,  included  rather  a 
compendium  of  official  letters,  famous  legal  documents, 
and  forms  relating  to  daily  life.  The  proper  divisions 
of  a  letter  or  a  document  and  the  method  of  producing 
each  part  were  also  definitely  described  in  the  treatises.2 
The  texts  upon  dialectic  were  in  the  earlier  Middle  Ages 
mostly  confined  to  the  encyclopaedic  writings  on  the 
liberal  arts,  but  during  the  period  of  scholasticism,  spe¬ 
cific  works  on  the  various  subjects  were  produced  by 
nearly  every  writer  of  prominence.  Dialectic  was  first 
based  upon  Latin  translations  of  a  few  works  of  Aristotle, 
but  toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  there  came 
an  influx  of  the  1  new  ’  Aristotle  through  the  Moors,  and 
soon  all  his  works  were  in  the  possession  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians.  After  the  tenth  century  there  was  also  a  large 


1  At  the  University  of  Paris  the  most  remarkable  grammarian  was  John 
Garland,  whose  chief  works  are  Clavis  Compendii ,  Compendium  Gram- 
matice,  and  Accentuarius. 

2  Alberich  of  Monte  Cassino,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eleventh  century, 
wrote  a  text  on  the  new  art,  in  which  he  taught  the  division  of  a  letter 
into  five  parts,  salutatio ,  benevolentiae  captatio,  narratio ,  petitio ,  con- 
clusio.  The  art  reached  its  height  at  Bologna  with  the  famous  master, 
Boncompagno. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 


21 


number  of  texts  upon  arithmetic  and  geometry.  In 
astronomy,  besides  the  encyclopaedic  works,  there  were 
special  editions  and  adaptations  of  the  treatises  of 
Ptolemy  and  Aristotle.  The  elaborate  De  Musica  of 
Boethius  lasted  well  into  the  day  of  universities,  but 
several  commentaries  were  also  written  during  the  ninth 
and  tenth  centuries  by  less  known  authorities. 

How  Monasticism  Affected  the  Middle  Ages  and  Civili¬ 
zation  in  General.  —  Much,  then,  is  owed  to  the  Christian 
monasteries  for  preserving  and  spreading  humanity  and 
culture.  While  we  cannot  always  trust  the  unstinted 
praise  of  Montalembert,  we  may  easily  sympathize  when 
he  declares :  — 

“To  that  unfortunate  multitude  condemned  to  labor  and  priva¬ 
tion,  which  constitutes  the  immense  majority  of  the  human  race,  the 
monks  have  always  been  prodigal,  not  only  of  bread,  but  at  the 
same  time  of  a  sympathy  efficacious  and  indefatigable  —  a  nourish¬ 
ment  of  the  soul  not  less  important  than  that  of  the  body.” 

Monasticism  arose  from  a  protest  against  vice  and 
corruption,  and  pointed  the  way  to  a  deeper  religion 
and  a  nobler  life.  It  tamed  the  spirits  and  refined  the 
hearts  and  intellects  of  the  German  hordes.  It  culti¬ 
vated  the  waste  places  and  made  “  the  deserts  blossom 
as  the  rose.”  Through  it  barbarians  acquired  industrial 
skill  and  perceived  the  true  dignity  of  labor.  The  poor, 
the  hungry,  and  the  sick  found  asylum  and  succor  at  the 
monastery  door,  and  the  weary  traveller  a  hospice  inside 
its  halls.  Monasticism  preserved  ancient  culture  and 
brought  forth  chronicles  and  religious  works ;  it  con¬ 
tinued  the  classical  schools  and  the  traditions  of  educa¬ 
tion.  It  may  not  be  that  “without  the  monks  we  should 
have  been  as  ignorant  of  our  history  as  children,”  but 
we  do  have  to  rely  upon  them  at  present  for  many  of 
our  documents  and  sources  of  the  Middle  Ages,  uncriti¬ 
cal  and  superstitious  though  they  were,  and  it  is  scarcely 
possible  that  without  the  monasteries  and  monastic 
schools  the  Latin  and  Greek  manuscripts  and  learning 
would  have  survived  and  been  available  when  the 
human  spirit  was  at  length  aroused  from  its  lethargy  of 
a  thousand  years. 


Monasticism 
accom¬ 
plished  much 
for  material 
progress  and 
humanity, 


and  for  the 
preservation 
of  learning 
and  educa¬ 
tion. 


22 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


But  it  had 
periodic 
lapses  from 
morality, 
piety,  and 
industry,  and 
was  some¬ 
what  op¬ 
posed  to 
classical 
literature, 
and  abso¬ 
lutely  so  to 
science  and 
individual¬ 
ism. 


Nevertheless,  it  must  be  admitted  that  monasticism 
was  infected  with  many  faults  of  the  times.  There 
were  periodic  lapses  from  its  piety  and  morality,  espe¬ 
cially  as  the  monasteries  came  to  be  wealthy,  luxurious, 
and  idle.  While  these  times  usually  gave  rise  to  new 
orders  with  additional  strictness  of  living,  carelessness  in 
religion  and  industry,  and  even  vice,  often  crept  within 
the  monastic  walls.  And  in  the  matter  of  learning  and 
education,  although  the  amount  of  Graeco-Latin  culture 
retained  and  original  works  produced  is  now  known  to 
have  been  very  much  greater  than  was  previously  sup¬ 
posed,  it  is  equally  certain  that  monasticism  was  always 
somewhat  hostile  to  classical  literature  as  representing 
the  temptations  of  the  world  and  opposing  the  ascetic 
ideal,  and  at  all  times  its  rigid  orthodoxy  prevented 
every  possibility  of  science  and  the  development  of 
individualism. 

This  is,  of  course,  the  secret  of  the  unsparing  criti¬ 
cism  of  such  men  as  Voltaire,  Gibbon,  and  Guizot,  as  far 
as  it  was  not  an  outgrowth  of  their  prejudices.  Such 
wholesale  condemnation  is  even  more  untenable  for  the 
historian  than  is  the  biased  advocacy  of  Montalembert. 
The  truth  will,  as  usual,  be  found  somewhere  between 
the  extremes.  Perhaps  the  fairest  picture  is  that  given 
in  the  series  of  epigrams  by  a  recent  writer :  — 

“  Monasticism  was  the  friend  and  foe  of  true  religion.  It  was  the 
patron  of  industry  and  the  promoter  of  idleness.  It  was  the  pioneer 
in  education  and  the  teacher  of  superstition.  It  was  the  disburser 
of  alms  and  a  many-handed  robber.  It  was  the  friend  of  human 
liberty  and  the  abettor  of  tyranny.  It  was  the  champion  of  the 
common  people  and  the  defender  of  class  privileges.”1 

All  the  criticisms  in  this  estimate  were  probably  true 
of  certain  monasteries  during  a  considerable  part  of 
their  existence  and  of  almost  all  monasteries  at  par¬ 
ticular  periods,  but  in  the  main  the  merits  cited  are  the 
more  characteristic  of  this  great  institution.  At  any 
rate,  in  balancing  these  contradictions,  the  positive  con¬ 
tributions  of  monasticism  to  the  humanities  and  civiliza- 

1  Wishart,  Monks  and  Monasteries ,  p.  389. 


MONASTICISM  AND  THE  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS  23 


tion  must  not  be  overlooked.  While  it  may  at  times 
have  retrograded,  and  did  stand  at  every  period  in  the 
way  of  actual  progress,  it  was,  after  all,  the  chief  means 
of  enabling  the  Germans  to  keep  alive  and  hand  on  to 
the  modern  world  the  light  that  had  been  kindled  in 
them  by  their  contact  with  antiquity. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Alexander  of  Villedieu.  Das  Doctrinale  (edited  by  Reichling 
in  Monumenta  Germanics  Pcedagogica ,  XII). 

Bacon,  R.  Opera  qucedam  hactenus  inedita  (edited  by  Brewer). 
Boethius,  A.  M.  T.  S.  De  Arithmetical  De  Musica,  and  Interfre- 
tatio  Euclidis  Geo?netrice . 

Capella,  M.  De  Nuptiis  Philologies  et  Mercurii. 

Cassian,  J.  Institutio  et  Dialogi. 

Cassiodorus,  M.  A.  De  Artibus  et  de  Disciplinis  Liber alium 
Literarum. 

Donatus,  A.  Ars  Gram?natica. 

Eberhard  of  Bethune.  Grcscismus  (edited  by  Wrobel  in  Cor¬ 
pus  Grammaticoriim  Medii  rEvi,  Vol.  I). 

Henderson,  E.  F.  Historical  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Bk. 

Ill,  Nos.  I  and  IV. 

Isidore  of  Seville.  Etymologies. 

Priscian.  Institutio  de  Arte  Grammatica. 

Robinson,  J.  H.  Readings  in  European  History.  Vol.  I. 
Thatcher  and  McNeal.  A  Source  Book  for  Medicsval  History, 
Pp.  432-492. 


II.  Authorities 

Abelson,  P.  The  Seven  Liberal  Arts. 

Church,  R.  W.  The  Beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Clark,  J.  W.  Libraries  in  the  Medicsval  and  Renaissance  Monas¬ 
teries. 

Comparetti,  D.  Vergil  in  the  Middle  Ages  (translated  by 
Benecke). 

Eckenstein,  L.  Woman  under  Monasticism. 

Feasey,  H.  J.  Monasticism. 

Hallam,  H.  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

Hardy,  R.  S.  Eastern  Monasticism. 

Healy,  J.  Insula  Sanctorum  et  Doctorum ;  ox  Ireland's  Ancient 
Schools  and  Scholars. 

Hunt,  W.  The  English  Church  (597-1066).  Chaps.  VI,  X,  XVII, 
and  XVIII. 


24 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Hyde,  D.  A  Literary  History  of  Ireland.  Chaps.  XIII-X  VIII. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Rise  and  Constitution  of  Universities.  Lectures  II, 
IV,  and  V. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.  History  of  European  Morals.  Chap.  IV. 

Milman,  H.  H.  The  History  of  Latin  Christianity . 

Montalembert,  C.  F.  The  Monks  of  the  West. 

Paetow,  L.  J.  The  Arts  Course  at  the  Medieval  Universities  with 
Special  Reference  to  Grammar  and  Rhetoric  (in  University  of 
Illinois  Studies ,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  7). 

Parker,  H.  The  Seven  Liberal  Arts. 

Putnam,  G.  H.  Books  and  Their  Makers  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

S andys,  J.  E.  A  History  of  Classical  Scholarship .  Vol.  I 

(sec.  ed.). 

Specht,  F.  A.  Geschichte  des  Unterrichtswesens  in  Deutschland. 

Stanley,  A.  P.  History  of  the  Eastern  Church. 

Taylor,  H.  O.  Classical  Heritage  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Voigt,  E.  Das  Erste  Lesebuch  des  Triviums  in  den  Kloster-und 
Stiftsschulen  des  Mittelalters. 

Wish  art,  A.  W.  A  Short  History  of  Monks  and  Monasteries. 

Woodhouse,  F.  C.  Alonasticism,  Ancient  and  Modern. 

Zimmer,  H.  The  Irish  Element  in  Mediceval  Culture . 


CHAPTER  III 


Charlemagne’s  revival  of  education 

While  the  ecclesiastical  organization  was  the  main 
element,  it  was  not  the  only  means  of  furthering  the  assim¬ 
ilation  that  was  going  on  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Although 
Rome  had  perished  and  the  fragments  of  her  dominions 
were  in  constant  opposition  and  turmoil,  occasionally  the 
political  factor  had  its  effect  upon  mediaeval  civilization 
and  education,  especially  as  the  idea  of  a  universal 
empire  had  never  entirely  vanished. 

Rise  of  the  Franks  and  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne.  — 
For  nearly  three  centuries  after  the  fall  of  Rome,  the 
inroads  of  the  barbarians  and  the  disintegration  of  the 
Roman  civil  organization,  culture,  and  system  of  educa¬ 
tion  went  on.  But  by  the  eighth  century  conditions  had 
settled  somewhat,  and  a  new  social  order  and  grouping 
about  a  Frankish  king  had  come  to  pass.  The  ‘  Franks’ 
consisted  of  a  confederation  of  German  tribes  that  alone 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  a  permanent  kingdom 
which  was  neither  taken  by  other  barbarian  tribes  nor 
reconquered  by  the  Eastern  emperor.  By  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  under  the  Merovingian  kings,  they 
had  spread  over  what  is  now  France,  Belgium,  Holland, 
and  most  of  western  Germany,  and,  through  the  rise  of 
the  more  vigorous  Carolingian  dynasty  in  the  seventh 
and  eighth  centuries,  their  control  became  even  wider 
and  the  sovereignty  more  centralized.  Karl  Martel 
greatly  strengthened  the  Frankish  rule  and  the  Caro¬ 
lingian  dynasty  by  his  repulse  of  the  Saracens  at  Tours 
in  732.  Two  decades  later,  his  son,  Pippin  the  Short, 
consummated  a  family  alliance  with  the  pope,  and, 
severely  chastising  the  Lombards,  who  were  threatening 

25 


The  Franks 
alone  of  all 
the  Germans 
established  a 
permanent 
kingdom, 
and  under 
the  Caro- 
lingians  cen¬ 
tralized  the 
sovereignty. 


2  6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


This  was 
recognized 
through  the 
coronation 
of  Charle¬ 
magne  by 
the  pope 
in  800. 


Charlemagne 
strengthened 
his  rule  by 
abolishing 
the  duchies, 
establishing 
margravates, 
sending  out 
missi,  form¬ 
ing  a  cabinet, 
and  issuing 
capitularies. 


Rome,  turned  over  a  goodly  strip  of  their  land  to  the 
pontiff.  Pippin’s  son,  Karl  the  Great  or  Charlemagne 1 
(742-814),  deposed  the  troublesome  dukes  of  Aquitaine 
and  Bavaria,  forced  the  Lombards  to  recognize  him  as 
their  king,  conquered  the  pagan  Saxons,  crowded  the 
Saracens  back  of  the  Ebro,  subdued  the  fierce  Slavs  and 
Bohemians,  and  generally  completed  the  erection  of 
Frankish  supremacy  into  a  single  Christian  empire. 

This  unification  was  recognized  by  the  unexpected 
crowning  of  Charlemagne  as  Emperor  of  the  Romans 
by  the  pope  upon  Christmas  day,  800.  And  that  act 
from  the  head  of  the  Church  Universal  may  fairly  be 
regarded  as  a  climax  in  the  absorption  of  the  Roman 
organization  by  the  Germans,  who  thus,  through  the 
Franks,  became  the  means  of  transmitting  it  as  a  basic 
element  in  modern  society.  Just  as  our  religious  inherit¬ 
ance  from  Rome  was  made  possible  through  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  so  the  heritage  of 
Roman  political  and  legal  institutions  has  come  to  us 
through  the  establishment  at  this  time  of  what  was 
destined,  when  somewhat  curtailed,  to  be  known  as  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Charlemagne’s  Improvements  in  Administration.  —  But 

Charlemagne  readily  saw  the  difficulty  of  holding  to¬ 
gether  his  wide  and  heterogeneous  dominions,  and  his 
administration  was  as  wisely  conducted  as  his  conquests. 
While  still  king  of  the  Franks,  he  abolished  the  indepen¬ 
dent  tribal  duchies  and  divided  them  into  districts  under 
counts,  responsible  directly  to  the  central  government; 
and,  as  the  hostile  peoples  were  pushed  back,  he  created 
military  districts  to  prevent  incursions  and  put  margraves  2 
(‘  counts  of  the  border  ’)  in  charge  of  them.  As  a  check 
upon  the  counts  and  margraves,  he  sent  out  missi 
dominici  (‘  royal  commissioners  ’),  who  should  report  to 
him  what  was  going  on  in  the  various  districts.  To 
assist  in  the  central  government,  he  had  a  council  of 

1  At  this  time  the  Franks  were  all  Germans,  and  the  French  form  of  the 
name  is  indefensible,  except  as  the  result  of  usage. 

2  I.e.  Mark  plus  Graf. 


CHARLEMAGNE’S  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION 


27 


nobles  and  ecclesiastics,  with  whose  sanction  he  issued 
decrees  called  capitularies  to  all  parts  of  his  realm. 

Charlemagne’s  Efforts  to  Improve  Learning. — The 
great  monarch,  however,  even  before  becoming  emperor, 
had  realized  that  a  genuine  unity  of  his  people  could  be 
brought  about  only  through  the  inner  life  by  means  of  a 
common  language,  culture,  and  set  of  ideas.  To  pro¬ 
duce  this,  he  felt  that  a  revival  of  learning  was  necessary, 
and  sought  to  spread  such  of  the  Roman  culture  as  had 
been  preserved.  By  the  latter  half  of  the  eighth  cen¬ 
tury  there  had  been  a  great  loss  in  knowledge  and 
education.  The  Gallic  learning  of  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries  was  disappearing,  the  copying  of  manuscripts 
had  almost  ceased,  and  the  monastic  and  cathedral 
schools  had  been  sadly  disrupted.  Charlemagne  reveals 
the  conditions  of  the  times  in  writing  the  Abbot  of 
Fulda :  — 

“We  have  frequently  received  letters  from  monks  and  in  them 
have  recognized  correct  sentiments,  but  an  uncouth  style  and  lan¬ 
guage.  The  sentiments  inspired  in  them  by  their  devotion  to  us 
they  could  not  express  correctly,  because  they  had  neglected  the 
study  of  language.  Therefore,  we  have  begun  to  fear  lest,  just  as 
the  monks  appear  to  have  lost  the  art  of  writing,  so  also  they  may 
have  lost  the  ability  to  understand  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  we  all 
know  that,  though  mistakes  in  words  are  dangerous,  mistakes  in  un¬ 
derstanding  are  still  more  so.11 

A  similar  lack  of  education  seems  to  have  prevailed 
among  the  ‘  secular  ’ 1  clergy,  the  nobility,  and  most 
others  who  might  have  been  expected  to  be  trained, 
although  the  leading  churchmen  must  still  have  had, 
beside  their  knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  Latin,  some 
acquaintance  with  the  classical  authors  and  the  compila¬ 
tions  of  the  seven  liberal  arts  by  Boethius,  Cassiodorus, 
and  Isidore.  Evidently  Charlemagne  had  a  keen  sense 
of  the  situation,  and  he  made  every  effort  to  improve  it. 
To  assist  him  in  his  endeavors,  he  summoned  the  lead- 

1  This  term  was  used  of  the  clergy,  —  priests,  bishops,  etc.,  given  to 
parochial  and  other  duties  in  society.  They  lived  in  the  world  (speculum), 
as  opposed  to  the  monastic  or  *  regular  ’  clergy,  who  lived  according  to 
rule  ( regula ). 


To  improve 
learning, 
which  had 
fallen  into  a 
desperate 
condition, 
Charlemagne 
engaged  the 
most  learned 
scholars  of 
the  day,  — 
Peter  of 
Pisa,  Paul 
the  Deacon, 
and  especially 
the  Saxon 
Alcuin. 


28 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Alcuin 
organized 
the  Palace 
School,  at 
which  he 
taught 

Charlemagne 
and  his 
family  and 
court, 


ing  scholars  of  the  day.  His  father’s  educational  ad¬ 
viser,  Peter  of  Pisa,  was  already  with  him,  and  through 
him  he  secured  the  services  of  Paul  the  Deacon,  a  prom¬ 
inent  scholar  of  Lombardy.  But  more  influential  than 
either  of  these  was  Alcuin  (735-800),  whom  Charle¬ 
magne  called  in  782  from  the  headship  of  the  famous 
cathedral  school  at  York  to  be  his  chief  minister  of 
education.  This  school  had  become,  perhaps,  the  most 
prominent  center  in  Europe,  since,  as  we  have  noted,1 
learning  had  reached  its  height  in  England  after  it  had 
largely  vanished  from  the  Continent,  and  Alcuin  became 
the  means  of  renewing  the  Graeco-Roman  training. 
Peter  was  growing  very  old  and  Paul  was  unpractical, 
and  both  of  these  refined  Lombards  were  jealous  of  the 
Frankish  supremacy  and  showed  themselves  out  of  sym¬ 
pathy  with  the  rude  and  boorish  warriors  of  Frankland. 
Neither  objection  held  of  Alcuin,  for  Anglo-Saxon  inter¬ 
ests  were  quite  removed  from  the  interference  of  the 
Franks,  and  Alcuin  had,  through  a  previous  acquaint¬ 
ance,  come  to  be  a  great  admirer  of  Charlemagne  and 
his  achievements.  Moreover,  he  was  just  enough  older 
so  that  the  impetuous  monarch  was  willing  to  listen  to 
his  advice  with  grace.  Through  this  English  scholar, 
Charlemagne  revived  the  monastic,  cathedral,  and  par¬ 
ish  schools,2  and  had  a  new  higher  institution,  known  as 
the  Palace  School ,  started  at  the  head  of  his  educational 
system. 

Alcuin  and  the  Palace  School.  —  We  may  properly 
consider  first  the  last  named  institution.  It  was  soon 
organized  at  the  court  of  the  great  king  by  Alcuin  and 
the  three  teachers  he  had  brought  from  York.3  Charle¬ 
magne  himself  studied  here  under  the  Saxon  educator, 
and  with  him  his  queen,  his  three  sons  and  two  daugh¬ 
ters,  his  sister,  son-in-law,  and  three  cousins,  and  various 


1  See  pp.  7-8. 

2  For  an  account  of  these  types  of  schools,  see  Graves,  History  of  Edu¬ 
cation  before  the  Middle  Ages ,  pp.  281,  286,  and  294. 

3  According  to  Maitre,  this  school  had  existed  for  several  generations, 
but  was  given  a  new  life  by  Alcuin. 


CHARLEMAGNE’S  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION 


29 


prominent  ecclesiastics  and  scholars  of  Frankland,  in¬ 
cluding  his  biographer,  Einhard.  Alcuin  must  have 
found  that  a  somewhat  different  mode  of  teaching  was 
necessary  with  the  adults  from  the  formal  one  used  with 
the  more  plastic  minds.  As  in  the  monastic  schools,1 2 
the  plan  for  instructing  the  youth  was  the  ‘catechetical’ 
method,  in  which  a  definite  answer  was  arranged  for 
each  of  a  fixed  set  of  questions.  Usually  the  replies 
were  learned  and  given  by  the  pupil,  although  originally 
the  teacher  indicated  the  proper  answers.  This  is  shown 
in  the  following  selection  from  The  Disputation  of  Pip¬ 
pin,  which  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  when  that 
prince  was  about  sixteen  :  — 

u  Pippin.  —  ‘  What  produces  speech  ? 1  Alcuin.  —  ‘  The  tongue.’ 

P.  — 1  What  is  the  tongue  ?  ’  A.  —  1  The  whip  of  the  air.’ 

P.  —  ‘  What  is  air  ? 1  A.  — 1  The  guardian  of  life.’ 

P.  —  ‘  What  is  life  ?  ’  A.  —  1  The  joy  of  the  good,  the  sorrow  of 

the  evil,  the  expectation  of  death.1” 

******* 

“  P.  — 1  What  is  rain  ?  1  A.  —  i  The  reservoir  of  the  earth,  the 
mother  of  fruits.1 

P.  —  ‘  What  is  frost? 1  A.  —  ‘A  persecutor  of  plants,  a  destroyer 
of  leaves,  a  fetter  of  the  earth,  a  fountain  of  water.1 

P.  —  ‘  What  is  snow  ?  *  A.  —  ‘  Dry  water.1 11  2 

But  a  more  discursive  method  must  have  been  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  Palace  School  with  the  older  people,  who 
could  not  memorize  as  rapidly  and  would  not  be  as  will¬ 
ing  to  regard  the  instructor  as  a  final  authority.  Cer¬ 
tainly  the  vigorous  Charlemagne,  with  his  eagerness 
and  curiosity  for  learning,  can  hardly  be  thought  of  as 
tamely  submitting  to  Alcuin  without  disputation  and 
suggestion,  and  at  times  even  attempts  to  prove  that 
scholar  inconsistent.  Often  he  seems  to  have  strained 
the  patience  of  his  tactful  master,  and  occasionally  led 
to  a  mild  rebuke. 

Among  the  subjects  taught  in  the  Palace  School  seem 

1  See  p.  19. 

2  For  the  rest  of  the  naive  metaphorical  explanations  of  this  colloquy, 
see  Alcuini  Opera ,  Migne,  C.  I.,  975,  seqq.,  quoted  by  Mombert,  Charles 
the  Great ,  pp.  244-245. 


but  adapted 
his  method 
according  to 
the  age  of 
his  pupils. 


30 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


He  there 
taught  gram¬ 
mar,  rhetoric, 
dialectic, 
arithmetic, 
astronomy, 
and  theology. 


Charlemagne 
also  issued 
capitularies 
to  the  abbots 
and  bishops, 
and  thus  re¬ 
vived  or 
established 
schools  at 
the  monas¬ 
teries,  cathe¬ 
drals,  and 
villages. 


to  have  been  grammar,  including  some  study  of  the 
Latin  poets  and  the  writings  of  the  Church  Fathers, 
rhetoric,  dialectic,  arithmetic,  astronomy,  and  theology, 
but  Alcuin  appears  to  have  had  but  little  command  of 
the  Greek  learning,  except  in  translation.  Charlemagne 
had  previously  learned  grammar  from  Peter  of  Pisa, 
and  he  now  acquired  from  Alcuin  the  higher  branches. 
According  to  Einhard,  “he  spoke  foreign  languages 
beside  his  own  tongue,  and  was  so  proficient  in  Latin 
that  he  used  it  as  easily  as  his  own  language.  Greek 
he  could  understand  better  than  he  could  speak.  He 
was  devoted  to  the  liberal  arts.”  This  may  be  some¬ 
what  doubtful,  but  we  may  well  believe  the  pathetic 
picture :  “He  tried  to  learn  to  write,  keeping  his  tablets 
under  the  pillow  of  his  couch  to  practice  on  in  his  leisure 
hours.  But  he  never  succeeded  very  well,  because  he 
began  too  late  in  life.” 

Educational  Improvement  in  the  Monastic  and  Other 
Schools.  —  Nor  did  Charlemagne  limit  his  endeavors  to 
educating  himself  and  his  relatives  and  friends.  Be¬ 
sides  establishing  the  Palace  School,  he  undertook  to 
revive  the  monastic,  cathedral,  and  parish  schools. 
With  the  cooperation  of  Alcuin,  he  did  everything 
within  his  power  to  increase  facilities  and  improve 
standards.  In  787  he  issued  an  educational  capitulary 
to  the  abbots  of  all  the  monasteries,  of  which  the  copy 
sent  to  Fulda  has  come  down  to  us.  After  reproving 
the  monks  for  their  illiteracy  in  the  words  already 
quoted,1  he  writes  :  — 

“  Therefore,  we  urge  you  to  be  diligent  in  the  pursuit  of  learning, 
and  to  strive  with  humble  and  devout  minds  to  understand  more 
fully  the  mysteries  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  it  is  well  known 
that  the  sacred  writings  contain  many  rhetorical  figures,  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  which  will  be  readily  apprehended  only  by  those  who 
have  been  instructed  in  the  study  of  letters.  And  let  those  men  be 
chosen  for  this  work  who  are  able  and  willing  to  learn  and  who  have 
the  desire  to  teach  others,  and  let  them  apply  themselves  with  a 
zeal  equaling  the  earnestness  with  which  we  recommend  it  to  them.” 


1  See  quotation  on  p.  27. 


CHARLEMAGNE’S  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION 


31 


In  apparently  the  same  year  that  Charlemagne  sent 
out  this  capitulary,  it  is  stated  that  “  he  brought  with 
him  from  Rome  into  Frankland  masters  in  grammar 
and  reckoning,  and  everywhere  ordered  the  expansion 
of  the  study  of  letters.”  Two  years  later  he  wrote  a 
more  urgent  capitulary  to  the  abbots  and  bishops,  in 
which  he  specified  the  subjects  to  be  taught  in  the  mo¬ 
nastic  and  cathedral  schools  and  the  care  to  be  taken  in 
teaching  them.  Moreover,  the  missi  of  Charlemagne 
were  instructed  to  see  that  the  provisions  of  these  capitu¬ 
laries  and  other  educational  efforts  were  carried  out  to 
the  letter,  and  there  is  evidence  for  believing  that  the 
instructions  were  generally  obeyed  by  the  abbots  and 
bishops.  Schools  seem  to  have  been  everywhere  re¬ 
vived  or  established  for  the  first  time  in  the  various 
monasteries,  cathedrals,  and  villages,  and  the  instruction 
at  such  places  as  Tours,  Fulda,  Corbie,  Bee,  Orleans, 
and  Hirschau  became  famous.  To  insure  this  revival, 
according  to  the  Monk  of  St.  Gall,  the  monarch  ordered 
that  only  those  most  interested  in  learning  and  edu¬ 
cation  should  be  appointed  to  important  dioceses  and 
abbacies. 

The  Course  of  Study  and  the  Organization  in  the 
Schools.  —  All  the  monastic  and  cathedral  schools  of 
Frankland  thus  came  to  offer  at  least  a  complete  ele¬ 
mentary  course,  and  some  added  considerable  work  in 
higher  education.  Reading,  writing,  computation,  sing¬ 
ing,  and  the  Scriptures  were  taught  first,  but,  beyond 
this,  instruction  in  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectic  was 
often  given,  and  in  the  more  famous  monasteries  the 
quadrivium  also  appeared  in  the  course.  The  schools 
in  the  villages,  under  the  care  of  the  parish  priests, 
furnished  only  elementary  subjects.  In  these  schools, 
besides  the  rudiments,  were  taught  the  Lord’s  prayer, 
the  creed,  and  the  Psalms. 

Tuition  was  free  in  all  schools  for  those  intending  to 
become  monks  or  priests,  but  for  the  higher  work  a 
small  fee  was  sometimes  paid  by  the  laity.  As  a  rule, 
elementary  education  was  gratuitous  and  open  to  all. 


The  elemen¬ 
tary  subjects 
were  every¬ 
where  taught, 
and  some¬ 
times  also 
the  trivium 
and  quad¬ 
rivium. 


Tuition  was 
generally 
free,  uni¬ 
versal,  and 
almost  com¬ 
pulsory. 


32 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


In  796Alcuin 
retired  to  the 
monastery  of 
Tours,  where 
he  estab¬ 
lished  a 
model  mo¬ 
nastic  school, 


and  had  a 
wide  educa¬ 
tional  influ¬ 
ence, 


This  is  shown  to  have  been  the  case  in  the  diocese  of 
Orleans,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  episcopal  letter  of 
Theodulf,  which  requires  that  “  the  priests  hold  schools 
in  the  towns  and  villages,  and  if  any  of  the  faithful  wish 
to  intrust  their  children  to  them  for  the  learning  of 
letters,  let  them  not  refuse  to  receive  and  teach  such 
children.  .  .  .  And  let  them  exact  no  price  from  the 
children  for  their  teaching,  nor  receive  anything  from 
them,  save  what  the  parents  may  offer  voluntarily  and 
from  affection.  ”  Indeed,  Charlemagne  almost  makes 
elementary  education  compulsory  by  decreeing  in  his 
capitulary  of  802  that  “  every  one  should  send  his  son 
to  study  letters  and  that  the  child  should  remain  at 
school  with  all  diligence  until  he  should  become  well  in¬ 
structed  in  learning.” 

The  School  of  Alcuin  at  the  Monastery  of  Tours. — 

After  fourteen  years  of  strenuous  service,  Alcuin  was 
anxious  to  retire  from  the  active  headship  of  the  school 
system,  with  its  difficulties  and  discouragements.  To 
this  desire  his  royal  master  yielded  and  made  him  abbot 
of  the  monastery  of  St.  Martin  at  Tours,  the  oldest  and 
most  wealthy1  in  Frankland.  But  even  here  his  edu¬ 
cational  work  did  not  cease.  He  soon  established  a 
model  house  of  learning  and  education,  whither  there 
flocked  to  him  the  brightest  youthful  minds  in  the 
empire.  As  these  rapidly  became  prominent  as  teachers 
and  churchmen,  Alcuin’s  influence  came  to  be  even 
wider  than  before,  and  the  standard  of  learning  in  all 
the  schools  was  greatly  raised. 

At  this  center  he  introduced  the  deepest  learning  in 
the  Scriptures  and  liberal  arts,  and  wrote  a  number  of 
educational  works,  mostly  along  the  lines  laid  down  by 
Augustine,  Cassiodorus,  Isidore,  and  Baeda.2  Further, 
through  a  large  correspondence  with  kings  and  the 
higher  clergy,  during  the  eight  years  that  intervened 
before  his  death,  his  influence  was  extended  for  several 

xThe  Archbishop  of  Toledo  is  known  to  have  reproached  Alcuin  with 
being  the  master  of  twenty  thousand  slaves. 

2  See  pp.  15-17  and  38. 


CHARLEMAGNE’S  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION 


33 


generations  and  reached  to  lands  beyond  the  Carolingian 
sway.  Alcuin,  however,  was  by  nature  conservative  and 
timid,  and  with  his  retirement  from  the  world  and  the 
near  approach  of  death,  he  became  decidedly  set  and 
narrow.  His  fear  of  the  dialectic  and  the  more  advanced 
views  of  certain  Irish  scholars,  “  with  their  versatility  in 
everything  and  their  sure  knowledge  of  nothing,”  who 
were  drifting  into  Frankland,  is  almost  ludicrous.  He 
advises  Theodulf,  the  new  head  of  the  Palace  School, 
to  hold  to  the  ‘old  wine,’  and  urges  the  emperor  to 
secure  vigorous  exponents  of  the  old  faith,  lest  the 
heresy  spread.  “You  have  by  you,”  he  writes,  “the 
tomes  of  both  secular  learning  and  of  the  Church’s 
wisdom,  wherein  the  true  answers  will  be  found  to  all 
your  inquiries.”  Similarly,  he  was  inclined  to  counsel 
his  pupils  against  the  classic  poets,  even  Vergil,  his 
former  favorite,  saying:  “The  sacred  poets  are  enough 
for  you;  you  have  no  need  to  weaken  your  minds  with 
the  rank  luxuriance  of  Vergil’s  verse.”  But  while  he 
became  thus  ascetic  and  hostile  toward  anything  new, 
this  is  not  remarkable  under  the  circumstances,  and  he 
must  be  credited  until  the  last  with  the  highest  ideals, 
the  greatest  energy,  and  even  a  certain  breadth  of 
vision. 

Rabanus  Maurus  and  Other  Pupils  of  Alcuin.  —  While 
at  the  death  of  Alcuin  practically  all  positions  of  educa¬ 
tional  importance  were  held  by  his  pupils,  the  monastic 
school  of  Fulda  was  destined  under  Rabanus  Maurus 
(776-856)  to  become  the  great  center  of  learning. 
Rabanus  was  probably  the  most  esteemed  pupil  of 
Alcuin,1  and  in  many  ways  he  was  a  man  of  broader 
gauge  than  his  master.  While  he  wrote  even  more 
prolifically  than  Alcuin  upon  grammar,  language,  and 
theology,  he  did  not  cling  to  the  traditional  subjects, 
and  was  not  afraid  to  emphasize  the  new  training  in 
dialectic.  Moreover,  he  enriched  the  formal  study  of 
grammar  by  a  genuine  training  in  literature,  and  advo- 

1  Alcuin  gave  him  his  surname,  taking  it  from  St.  Maur,  the  most  be¬ 
loved  disciple  of  Benedict. 

D 


but  became 
set  and  nar¬ 
row. 


Alcuin’s 
pupil, 
Rabanus 
Maurus  of 
Fulda,  con¬ 
tinued  and 
advanced  his 
educational 
ideals,  con¬ 
tent,  and 
influence, 


34 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


while  the 
Irish  learn¬ 
ing  was 
added  under 
the  master¬ 
ship  of 
Joannes 
Scotus 
Erigena  at 
the  Palace 
School. 


cated  the  reading  of  the  classic  poets.  Through  his 
influence,  too,  the  mathematical  subjects  of  the  curricu¬ 
lum  were  expanded  into  considerably  more  than  the 
calculation  of  Church  festivals,  and  he  even  made  bold 
to  ascribe  all  phenomena  to  natural  laws,  rather  than  to 
some  mysterious  cause.  Thus  he  became  a  forerunner 
of  the  later  movement  of  scholasticism. 

The  pupils  of  Rabanus  were  even  more  numerous 
than  those  of  Alcuin,  and  but  few  scholars  or  teachers 
of  the  next  generation  are  not  to  be  attributed  to  Fulda. 
However,  the  great  scholar  of  East  Frankland  but  con¬ 
tinued  the  influence  of  his  master  in  the  West,  and  it 
would  be  difficult  to  separate  the  part  played  by  each. 
Further,  there  was  mingled  with  the  Alcuinian  growth 
the  cross-fertilization  of  Irish  learning.  This  came  to 
Frankland  especially  through  the  mastership  of  Joayines 
Scotus  Erigena  (8 10-876) 1  at  the  Palace  School  in  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century.  Thus  during  this  century 
and  the  first  half  of  the  next,  through  the  political  tran¬ 
quillity  brought  about  by  the  Carolingians,  there  arose  a 
marked  revival  in  education.  Most  of  the  monasteries 
of  the  Continent  and  England  for  several  generations 
enthusiastically  supported  schools  and  fostered  learning. 
Curricula  were  expanded,  and  many  famous  scholars 
appeared.  Theological  discussions  and  other  evidences 
of  renewed  intellectual  activity  sprang  up.  Owing  to 
the  weakness  of  Charlemagne’s  successors,  the  attacks 
of  the  Northmen,  and  the  general  disorder  of  the  empire, 
learning  gradually  faded  once  more.  But  while  the  re¬ 
sults  of  the  revival  are  somewhat  disappointing,  intellec¬ 
tual  stagnation  never  again  prevailed.  It  is  clear  that 
even  in  the  period  of  retrogression  between  the  end  of 
Charlemagne’s  influence  and  the  greater  activity  of 
scholasticism,  some  educational  traditions  must  have 
survived.  Through  the  revival  of  the  great  Frankish 
monarch  the  classical  learning  was  recalled  to  conti¬ 
nental  Europe  from  its  insular  asylum  in  the  extreme 
West. 


1  See  pp.  49-50  and  51. 


CHARLEMAGNE’S  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION 


35 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Alcuin.  Opera  Omnia  (emendata  cura  et  studio  Frcebenii). 
Einhard.  Life  of  Charlemagne. 

Henderson,  E.  F.  Historical  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Book  II. 

Jaffe,  P.  Monumenta  Alcuiniana  (. Bibliotheca  Rerum  Germani- 
carum ,  VI). 

Rabanus  Maurus.  Opera  Omnia  (Migne,  Patrologia  Latina , 
CVII-CXII). 

Robinson,  J.  H.  Readings  in  European  History.  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VII. 
Thatcher  and  McNeal.  A  Source  Book  for  Mediaeval  History. 
Pp.  26-60. 


II.  Authorities 

Abel  and  Simson.  Jahrbucher  des  Frankischen  Reiches  unter 
Karl  den  Grossen.  Band  II. 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chaps.  VII 
and  VIII. 

Adamson,  R.  Alcuin  (article  in  Dictionary  of  National  Biog¬ 
raphy). 

Barnard,  H.  German  Teachers  and  Educators. 

Drane,  A.  T.  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars.  Chaps.  V  and  VI. 
Gaskoin,  C.  J.  C.  Alcuin ,  His  Life  and  His  Work. 

Henderson,  E.  F.  A  Short  History  of  Germany.  Vol.  I,  Chap.  II. 
Laurie,  S.  S.  Rise  and  Constitution  of  Universities.  Lect.  III. 
Lorenz,  F.  Life  of  Alcuin  (translated  by  Jane  Mary  Slee). 
Mombert,  J.  I.  A  History  of  Charles  the  Great. 

Monnier,  F.  Alcuin  et  Charlemagne. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  The  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great. 

Townsend,  W.  J.  The  Great  Schoolmen  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Chap.  II. 

West,  A.  F.  Alcuin  and  the  Rise  of  Christian  Schools. 


CHAPTER  IV 


After  im¬ 
proving  the 
government 
of  his  coun¬ 
try,  Alfred 
of  Wessex 
undertook  a 
regeneration 
of  educa¬ 
tional  condi¬ 
tions. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION  UNDER  ALFRED 

A  work  for  education  similar  to  Charlemagne’s  and 
possibly  inspired  by  it  was  that  of  Alfred  the  Great 
(848-901),  king  of  the  West  Saxons.  It  was,  however, 
on  a  smaller  scale,  and  was  more  personal  and  local  in 
character.  In  Britain  for  several  centuries  there  had 
been  continual  warfare  between  the  various  tribal  king¬ 
doms  established  by  the  Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes, 
until  in  827  all  had  been  brought  under  the  overlordship 
of  Wessex.  But  a  little  later  the  Northmen,  or  ‘  Danes,’ 
as  they  were  called  by  the  Anglo-Saxons,  conquered  all 
the  country  north  of  the  Thames,  and  were  prevented 
from  extending  their  sway  into  Wessex  only  by  Alfred, 
who  had  come  to  the  throne  in  871.  This  monarch, 
however,  instead  of  attempting  to  reestablish  the  su¬ 
premacy  of  Wessex,  devoted  his  energies  to  developing 
the  realms  that  remained  to  him. 

Alfred’s  Desire  to  Extend  and  Improve  Education.  — 
After  the  fashion  of  Charlemagne,  Alfred  improved  the 
political  administration  of  his  country,  displaying  great 
breadth  and  sagacity,  but  his  chief  resemblance  to  the 
Frankish  emperor  rests  on  his  interest  in  education. 
Just  before  his  reign  began,  learning  in  England  appears 
to  have  sadly  retrograded  since  the  days  of  Alcuin,  and 
Wessex  was  probably  the  most  ignorant  kingdom  in 
that  land.  But  few  lettered  men  were  left,  even  in  the 
more  cultured  towns.  Alfred  writes  :  — 

“  So  general  became  the  decay  of  learning  in  England  that  there 
were  very  few  on  this  side  of  the  Humber  who  could  understand  the 
Church  service  in  English,  or  translate  a  letter  from  Latin  into  Eng¬ 
lish  ;  and  I  believe  that  there  were  not  many  beyond  the  Humber 
who  could  do  these  things.  There  were  so  few,  in  fact,  that  I  cannot 
remember  a  single  person  south  of  the  Thames  when  I  came  to  the 
throne.” 

36 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION  UNDER  ALFRED  3  ? 


Alfred  desired  to  lift  this  incubus  of  ignorance  from 
his  people.  He  expressed  the  wish  “that  all  free-born 
youth  now  in  England,  who  are  rich  enough  to  be  able 
to  devote  themselves  to  it,  be  set  to  learn  as  long  as  they 
are  not  fit  for  any  other  occupation,  until  they  are  well 
able  to  read  English  writing;  and  those  afterwards  be 
taught  more  in  the  Latin  language  who  are  to  continue 
learning,  and  be  promoted  to  a  higher  rank.” 

The  Establishment  of  Schools  and  the  Importation  of 
Educators.  — To  carry  out  this  ideal,  Alfred  encouraged 
many  schools  at  the  monasteries.  He  also  had  the 
schools  in  general  improved  and  increased  in  number, 
and  personally  supervised  a  Palace  School  for  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  his  sons,  “the  children  of  almost  all  the  nobility 
of  the  country,  and  many  who  were  not  noble.”  Here 
the  pupils  were  taught  reading  and  writing,  both  in 
Latin  and  Saxon,  and  acquired  the  Psalms,  Saxon  poetry 
and  other  literature,  and  some  of  the  liberal  arts. 

However,  with  the  exception  of  the  Welsh  bishop  and 
chronicler,  Asser,  there  were  scarcely  any  men  in  the 
kingdom  of  sufficient  education  to  aid  him.  But  Asser 
tells  us :  — 

“God  at  that  time,  as  some  relief  to  the  king’s  anxiety,  yielding 
to  his  complaint,  sent  certain  lights  to  illuminate  him,  namely,  Wer- 
frith,  bishop  of  the  church  of  Worcester,  .  .  .  Plegmund,  a  Mercian 
by  birth,  archbishop  of  Canterbury;  Ethelstan  and  Werwulf,  his 
priests  and  chaplains,  also  Mercians  by  birth.  These  four  had  been 
invited  from  Mercia  by  King  Alfred,  who  exalted  them  with  many 
honors  and  powers  in  the  kingdom  of  the  West  Saxons.  .  .  .  But 
the  king’s  commendable  desire  could  not  be  gratified  even  in  this ; 
wherefore  he  sent  messengers  beyond  the  sea  to  Gaul,  to  procure 
teachers,  and  he  invited  from  them  Grimbald,  priest  and  monk,  a 
venerable  man  and  good  singer,  adorned  with  every  kind  of  ecclesi¬ 
astical  training  and  good  morals,  and  most  learned  in  the  holy 
Scriptures.  He  also  obtained  John,  priest  and  monk,  a  man  of  most 
energetic  talents,  and  learned  in  all  kinds  of  literary  science  and 
skilled  in  many  other  arts.” 

Thus,  curiously  enough,  as  Charlemagne  had  resorted 
to  Lombardy  and  York,  Alfred  went  to  the  Continent 
for  men  of  reputation,  to  help  in  improving  the  schools. 
Grimbald  was  drawn  from  the  Flemish  monastery  at 


To  make 
elementary 
education 
universal 
and  afford 
some  higher 
training, 
Alfred  im¬ 
proved  and 
increased 
the  schools 
in  general, 
and  super¬ 
vised  a 
Palace 
School ; 


and,  beside 
certain  Mer¬ 
cians,  he 
summoned 
prominent 
educators 
from  the 
Continent, 
such  as 
Grimbald 
and  John 
the  Old 
Saxon. 


38 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


He  also 
translated 
the  best 
books  of  the 
time. 


Thus  Alfred 
greatly  in¬ 
creased  the 
opportunities 
for  school¬ 
ing, 


St.  Omer  to  become  Abbot  of  Winchester,  and  John  the 
Old  Saxon  was  invited  from  Corbie  to  take  charge  of 
the  new  monastery  and  school  established  at  Athelney. 

Alfred’s  Personal  Assistance  to  Learning  and  Educa¬ 
tion.  —  Of  course  old  works  were  recovered  and  new 
texts  were  prepared  for  the  work  in  the  schools,  but  the 
most  striking  contribution  to  educational  facilities  was 
the  translations  made  by  Alfred  himself.  He  attempted 
to  open  up  to  the  pupils  and  the  people  at  large  the 
learning  and  information  that  had  previously  been  con¬ 
fined  to  the  clergy  and  nobility,  and  to  that  end  ren¬ 
dered  from  Latin  into  English  the  best  books  of  the 
time.  For  example,  he  translated  into  the  vernacular 
the  Consolations  of  Philosophy  of  Boethius,  the  Univer¬ 
sal  History  of  the  World ,  compiled  by  Orosius,  the  His¬ 
tory  of  the  Church  in  England ,  written  by  Baeda,  and 
the  Pastoral  Charge  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great.1 

These  works,  chosen  as  the  leading  productions  of 
the  day,  afford  a  concrete  example  of  the  lamentable 
way  in  which  knowledge  and  culture  had,  through  a 
lack  of  interest,  declined  since  the  day  of  Rome.2  For¬ 
tunately,  Alfred  was  an  editor  as  well  as  a  translator, 
and  by  abridging  at  times,  expanding  at  others,  and  com¬ 
menting  throughout,  he  added  a  spice,  enthusiasm,  and 
intelligibility  to  each  work  that  was  entirely  his  own. 
Through  him,  too,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  was  com¬ 
piled,  in  order  that  the  people  might  become  acquainted 
in  the  vernacular  with  the  history  of  their  own  country. 

Significance  of  Alfred’s  Educational  Work.  —  In  these 
ways  Alfred  gave  a  new  impulse  to  education  among 
the  West  Saxons  and  elsewhere  in  England,  very  much 
as  Charlemagne  had  upon  the  Continent.  He  greatly 
increased  the  opportunities  for  schooling,  restored  much 


1  Plummer  undertakes  to  show  to  what  extent  each  of  these  was  the 
work  of  Alfred  himself.  See  Alfred  the  Great ,  pp.  140-196. 

2  If  Alfred  had  known  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Livy,  and  Tacitus,  he 
would  have  preferred  their  works  to  the  dreary  compend  of  Orosius.  So 
he  would  have  found  Plato,  Aristotle,  Seneca,  and  Epictetus  preferable  to 
the  decadent  philosophy  of  Boethius. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  EDUCATION  UNDER  ALFRED  39 


of  the  old  learning,  opened  the  best  Latin  works  of  the 
day  to  his  people,  and  produced  the  first  prose  writings 
in  England.  He  thus  helped  on  the  day  of  awakening, 
for,  while  the  mediaeval  turmoil  and  narrowness  ruled 
supreme  for  some  centuries  after  his  day,  conditions  in 
England  were  never  as  dark  again. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Asser.  Annales  ASlfredi  (translated  by  E.  Conybeare). 

Cheyney,  E.  P.  Readings  in  English  History .  Chap.  V,  II. 
Giles,  J.  A.  Six  Old  English  Chroniclers .  Pp.  51-77. 
Stevenson,  J.  (Translator).  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle. 

Thorpe,  B.  Ancient  Laws  and  Institutes  of  England  (edited  by 
Plummer) . 


II.  Authorities 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chap.  VIII. 
Bowker,  A.  (Editor).  Alfred  the  Great.  By  Harrison,  Oman, 
Earle,  Pollock,  and  others. 

Conybeare,  E.  Alfred  in  the  Chroniclers. 

Giles,  J.  A.  Life  and  Times  of  Alfred  the  Great. 

Green,  J.  R.  A  Short  History  of  the  English  People.  Chap.  I. 
Green,  J.  R.  The  Conquest  of  England.  Chap.  IV. 

Hunt,  W.  The  English  Church  (597-1066).  Chap.  XII. 

Morley,  H.  English  Writers.  Vol.  II,  Chap.  XII. 

Pauli,  R.  Life  of  Alfred  the  Great  (translated  by  Thorpe). 
Plummer,  C.  The  Life  and  Times  of  Alfred  the  Great.  Espe¬ 
cially  Lectures  V  and  VI. 

Ransome,  C.  An  Advanced  History  of  England.  Chap.  VI. 
Traill,  H.  D.  (Editor).  Social  England.  Vol.  I. 

Turner,  S.  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  Especially  Vol.  IV, 
Bk.  V. 


and  restored 
much  of  the 
old  learning. 


CHAPTER  V 


Moslemism, 
founded  by 
Mohammed, 
who  was 
almost 
illiterate, 


became 
amalgamated 
with  Greek 
learning  in 
Syria, 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  LEARNING  AND  EDUCATION 

The  Rise  of  Moslemism  and  Its  Absorption  of  Greek 
Culture.  —  One  of  the  most  important  influences  in 
awakening  mediaeval  Europe  was  the  revival  of  learning 
and  education  that  came  through  the  advent  of  the  Mos¬ 
lems  into  Spain.  In  the  early  part  of  the  seventh  cen¬ 
tury,  when  Moslemism  first  appeared,  one  would  hardly 
suppose  that  it  could  become  a  means  of  renewing  edu¬ 
cation.  The  founder  of  this  religion,  Muhammed ,  or 
Mohammed,  was  almost  illiterate,  and  the  revelations  that 
he  claimed  to  have  received  were  for  nearly  a  generation 
handed  down  by  tradition.  The  Koran ,  or  sacred  book 
of  this  faith,  was  not  committed  to  writing  until  about 
650.  It  appears  to  be  a  curious  jumble  of  the  Judaistic, 
Christian,  and  other  religious  elements  with  which  Mo¬ 
hammed  had  become  acquainted  during  his  early  travels. 

As  long  as  this  religion  was  confined  to  the  ignorant 
and  unreflecting  tribes  of  Arabia,  it  served  its  purpose 
without  modification,  but  when  it  spread  into  Syria  and 
other  cultured  lands,1  it  came  in  contact  with  Greek 
philosophy,  and  had  to  be  interpreted  in  those  terms,  in 
order  to  appeal  to  the  people  there.  Antioch,  Edessa, 
Nisibis,  and  other  places  in  Syria  had  become  famous 
for  the  Greek  learning  cultivated  by  their  catechetical 
schools.  These  schools  had  grown  up  during  the  third 
and  fourth  centuries  through  the  expulsion  from  the 
Eastern  Church  of  those  who  had  amalgamated  the 

1  During  the  ten  years  that  elapsed  between  Mohammed’s  famous  hegira 
(‘  flight’)  from  Mecca  in  622,  and  his  death,  the  whole  of  Arabia  was  con¬ 
verted,  and  under  the  caliphs  (‘ representatives ’),  who  immediately  suc¬ 
ceeded  him  as  head  of  the  religion,  it  was  spread  by  the  sword  over  Persia, 
Syria,  and  Egypt. 


40 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  LEARNING  AND  EDUCATION  4 1 


Greek  philosophy  with  their  Christianity.1  The  acces¬ 
sion  of  the  followers  of  Nestorius,  whose  Hellenized 
theology  had  in  431  been  proscribed  by  the  Council  of 
Ephesus,2  very  greatly  increased  the  importance  of  these 
cities,  as  intellectual  centers.  Here,  from  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century,  the  Nestorian  Christians 
accumulated,  in  addition  to  the  translations  that  were 
already  there,  a  large  range  of  the  original  Greek  treatises 
on  philosophy,  science,  and  medicine.  The  works  of 
Aristotle  and  Neoplatonism  were  especially  sought,  and, 
by  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  when  the  Moham¬ 
medans  came  in  contact  with  the  Nestorians,  these 
Christians  had  already  become  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  Hellenism.  In  order  to  make  converts  to 
Moslemism,  a  syncretism  of  this  faith  with  Hellenism 
was  necessary.  Within  a  century,  through  the  Nestorian 
scholars,  the  Mohammedans  began  to  render  into  Arabic 
from  the  Syriac,  or  from  the  original  Greek,  the  works 
of  the  great  philosophers,  mathematicians,  and  physi¬ 
cians.  During  the  next  two  hundred  years  the  move¬ 
ment  continued  to  grow,  and  by  the  tenth  century  such 
Mohammedan  cities  as  Damascus,  Bagdad,  Basra,  and 
Kufa  were  renowned  for  their  learning. 

It  was  this  interest  in  Greek  learning  that  impelled 
the  head  of  the  Moslem  religion,  the  caliph  Almaimon, 
early  in  the  ninth  century  to  beg  the  emperor  at  Con¬ 
stantinople  to  allow  Leo  the  mathematician  to  come  to 
Bagdad,  saying: 

11  Do  not  let  diversity  of  religion  or  of  country  cause  you  to  refuse 
my  request.  Do  what  friendship  would  concede  to  a  friend.  In 
return,  I  offer  you  a  hundred  weight  of  gold,  a  perpetual  alliance 
and  peace.” 

1  An  account  of  these  catechetical  schools  is  given  in  Graves,  History 
of  Education  before  the  Middle  Ages ,  Chap.  XIV. 

2  Nestorius  was  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  from  428  to  431,  and  his 
especial  antagonist  was  the  notorious  Cyril,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  who 
was  largely  influenced  by  jealousy.  For  an  account  of  this  controversy, 
see  Rainy,  The  Ancient  Catholic  Church  (New  York,  1902),  pp.  376- 
392. 


where  the 

catechetical 

schools  and 

Hellenized 

Christianity 

had  taken 

refuge. 


42 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Syrian 
Moslems 
also  ab¬ 
sorbed  learn¬ 
ing  from 
other  people, 
and  wrote 
treatises 
upon  mathe¬ 
matics,  medi¬ 
cine,  phi¬ 
losophy,  and 
theology ; 
the  chief  of 
their  works 
being  the 
Encyclope¬ 
dia  of  the 
Brothers  of 
Sincerity. 


But  the 
masses  of  the 
Moslems 
were  sus- 
Dicious  of 


Thus  the  thinkers  in  the  Moslem  schools  of  Syria 
undertook  to  root  out  the  supernatural  from  the  Moslem 
religion  and  to  render  its  tenets  more  reasonable.  A 
mysticism  not  unlike  that  of  the  Christian  Gnostics 
resulted,  and  the  Neoplatonism,  as  well  as  the  Aristo- 
telianism,  of  the  Nestorians  received  a  new  lease  of  life. 

The  Brothers  of  Sincerity  and  their  Scheme  of  Higher 
Education. — But  besides  the  Greek  science  and  philos¬ 
ophy,  the  Arabs  absorbed  similar  matter  from  other 
peoples,  such  as  the  Hindu  mathematical  learning,  and 
added  many  new  ideas  of  their  own.  Among  the 
Moslems  arose  such  scholars  as  Avicenna  (980-1037), 
who  wrote  many  treatises  on  mathematics  and  philosophy, 
and  a  System  of  Medicine  that  was  an  authority  for  five 
centuries,  and  Algazzali  (1058-mi),  whose  philosophi¬ 
cal  and  theological  productions  were  most  numerous  and 
influential.  The  combination  of  Moslemism  with  Greek 
philosophy  was  especially  embodied  in  an  Encyclopedia , 
or  course  of  study,  formulated  about  the  year  1000.  The 
resulting  system  was  arranged  at  Basra  by  the  Moslem 
society  that  called  itself  the  Brothers  of  Sincerity .  It 
presupposed  an  elementary  training,  and  may  thus  be 
regarded  as  the  higher  education  of  the  Mohammedans. 
It  is  composed  of  fifty-one  treatises  grouped  under  the 
four  general  heads  of  Propaedeutics,  Natural  Science, 
Metaphysics,  and  Theology.  These  treatises  deal  at 
first  with  concrete  subjects,  and  then  with  the  more 
complicated  problems  of  life,  until  the  theories  of  divine 
law  are  reached.  Under  this  last  head  there  is  given  a 
dogmatic  exposition  of  the  Moslem  faith,  and  in  this 
feature  the  Encyclopaedia  differs  radically  from  all  Greek 
philosophy.  Nevertheless,  it  is  probably  the  best  attempt 
at  a  harmonization  of  philosophy  with  revelation,  and  is 
the  one  complete  educational  system  that  the  mediaeval 
world  affords. 

If  the  Brothers  of  Sincerity  had  succeeded  in  getting 
the  Mohammedans  generally  to  accept  their  scheme, 
modern  civilization  would  probably  have  been  hastened 
by  several  centuries.  But  the  masses  of  the  superstitious 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  LEARNING  AND  EDUCATION  43 


and  fatalistic  Arabs  were  as  suspicious  as  the  mediaeval 
Christians  of  the  Greek  learning,  and  toward  the  end  of 
the  eleventh  century  the  Hellenic  scholarship  and  educa¬ 
tion,  and  the  rationalized  theology  of  the  Brothers  of 
Sincerity  were  driven  from  the  Orient.  Fortunately,  it 
was  able  to  find  refuge  in  the  more  liberal  caliphates  of 
Africa  and  Spain,  where  the  Mohammedans  had  settled 
after  their  repulse  from  Frankland  in  the  eighth  century.1 
Here  the  Encyclopaedia  and  other  works  had  a  large 
influence  not  only  upon  the  Arabs  of  the  West,  who 
were  known  as  Moors,  but  upon  the  later  Jewish  thinkers 
and  the  Christians.  Among  the  Moorish  writers  was 
the  celebrated  Averroes  (1126-1198),  who  undertook  to 
unite  the  doctrines  of  Aristotle  with  those  of  Moslemism.2 
Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  he  was  the  authoritative 
‘  commentator  ’  on  the  great  philosopher. 

The  Moorish  Colleges.  —  The  stimulus  thus  given  to 
higher  education  led  to  the  founding  of  great  schools  at 
Cordova,  Granada,  Toledo,  Seville,  Alexandria,  Cairo, 
and  elsewhere  by  the  Moors.  At  these  places,  during 
the  eleventh  century,  when  in  the  Christian  schools  of 
the  East  and  West  alike  learning  was  at  a  very  low  ebb, 
the  Mohammedans  were  teaching  arithmetic,  geometry, 
trigonometry,  physics,  astronomy,  biology,  medicine, 
surgery,  logic,  metaphysics,  and  jurisprudence.  These 
Moorish  institutions  were  colleges  in  the  literal  sense,  for 
the  students  lived  in  them  together  with  the  professors. 
Through  these  colleges  the  highest  spirit  of  culture  and 
investigation  flourished.  The  sciences  were  greatly 
advanced,  Arabic 3  notation  was  introduced  in  place  of 
the  cumbersome  Roman  numerals,  many  inventions  and 
discoveries  were  made,  and  practical  achievements,  like 
navigation,  exploration,  commerce,  and  industries,  were 


Greek  learn¬ 
ing,  and  the 
rationalized 
theology  of 
the  Brothers 
of  Sincerity 
was  driven 
from  the 
Orient  into 
Africa  and 
Spain, 


where  were 
founded  the 
Moorish  col¬ 
leges,  with 
their  courses 
in  mathemat¬ 
ics,  sciences, 
and  philoso¬ 
phy. 


1  Karl  Martel  had  checked  their  advance  by  the  battle  of  Tours  in  732. 
See  p.  25. 

2  For  a  most  complete  account  of  Arabic  metaphysics,  see  Renan’s 
Averroes  et  /’ Averroisme. 

3  It  has  long  been  called  *  Arabic  ’  from  the  source  of  its  introduction 
into  Europe,  but  the  Arabs,  of  course,  got  it  first  from  the  Hindus. 


44 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Mos¬ 
lems  also 
founded 
elementary 
schools, 
where  the 
rudiments, 
religion,  and 
elementary 
science  were 
taught. 


The  Moslem 
colleges  and 
schools 
stimulated 
learning  in 
the  Christian 
schools,  and 
introduced 
Aristotle  into 
Christianity 
once  more. 


developed.  Hence  Draper  is  naturally  led  “  to  deplore 
the  systematic  manner  in  which  the  literature  of  Europe 
has  contrived  to  put  out  of  sight  our  scientific  obligations 
to  the  Mohammedans/’  And  it  was  in  the  colleges  of 
the  Moors  that  the  mediaeval  Christians  afterward  found 
a  model  for  their  universities.  It  would,  indeed,  be 
difficult  to  overestimate  the  remarkable  influence  of  the 
Moorish  development  upon  European  civilization. 

Elementary  Education.  —  But  the  Mohammedans,  both 
of  the  East  and  the  West,  did  not  limit  themselves  to 
higher  education.  Elementary  schools  for  both  boys  and 
girls  sprang  up  in  practically  all  cities  and  towns  that 
came  under  their  influence.  Children  went  to  school  at 
five.  If  they  belonged  to  a  poorer  family,  they  remained 
only  three  years,  when  they  went  into  some  trade  or 
industry,  but  children  of  the  wealthy  attended  school 
until  they  were  fourteen,  and,  wherever  it  was  possible, 
they  were  encouraged  to  travel  with  a  tutor.  These 
elementary  schools  taught  religion,  reading,  writing, 
grammar,  versification,  arithmetic,  and  geography.  The 
chief  reading-book  was  the  Koran,  but,  as  Draper  shows, 
they  must  have  taught  geography  by  means  of  globes, 
while  the  Church  doctrine  of  Rome  and  Constantinople 
was  still  asserting  that  the  earth  is  flat. 

Stimulating  Effect  upon  Europe  of  the  Moslem  Edu¬ 
cation.  —  These  Mohammedan  schools,  especially  the 
higher,  naturally  proved  a  great  stimulus  to  education 
in  the  West.  While  learning  had  now  largely  disap¬ 
peared  from  the  Christian  schools  of  the  East,  in  those 
of  Western  Europe,  through  the  example  of  the  Mos¬ 
lems,  it  began  to  revive.  By  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century,  Raymund,  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  had  the  chief 
Arabic  treatises  on  philosophy  translated  into  Castilian 
by  a  learned  Jew,  and  then  into  Latin  by  the  monks; 
while  Frederick  II,  head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
had  scholars  render  the  works  of  the  Aristotelian  com¬ 
mentator,  Averroes,  into  Latin.  Such  translations  had, 
however,  passed  through  several  media,  and,  in  conse¬ 
quence,  were  not  at  all  accurate.  Renan  describes  one 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  LEARNING  AND  EDUCATION  45 


rendering  of  Averroes  as  “  a  Latin  translation  of  a 
Hebrew  translation  of  a  commentary  on  an  Arabic 
translation  of  a  Syriac  translation  of  a  Greek  text  of 
Aristotle.”  But  stimulated  by  this  taste  of  the  Greek 
learning,  the  Christians  sought  a  more  immediate  version. 
Half  a  century  later,  when  the  Venetians  took  the  city  of 
Constantinople,  and  the  works  of  Aristotle  were  re¬ 
covered  in  the  original,  the  Western  world  hastened  to 
have  translations  made  directly  into  Latin. 

But  during  the  thirteenth  century  the  orthodox 
Mohammedans  overwhelmed  the  Hellenized  Moslemism 
and  came  to  control  even  in  Spain,  and  it  was  left  to  the 
Christian  schools  and  the  Jewish  philosophers  to  continue 
the  work  of  the  Moslem  scholars  and  institutions.  Mos¬ 
lemism  had  returned  to  its  primitive  stage,  but  it  had 
brought  back  learning,  especially  the  works  of  Aristotle, 
to  Christendom,  and  a  worthy  mission  for  progress  was 
thereby  performed.  Thus  the  Graeco-Roman  learning, 
which  had  been  driven  out  of  Europe  by  orthodox 
Christianity,  found  its  way  back  through  the  Moham¬ 
medans,  and  the  circular  process  was  complete.  As  the 
classical  learning  had  been  restored  from  the  West 
during  the  revival  of  Charlemagne,  it  returned  from  its 
refuge  in  the  East  through  the  movement  of  the  Sara¬ 
cens.1 


After  the 
orthodox 
Mohamme¬ 
dans  came 
into  control 
in  Spain, 
Moslemism 
returned  to 
its  primitive 
stage,  but  it 
had  brought 
learning  back 
to  Chris¬ 
tianity. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Brothers  of  Sincerity.  Encyclopedia . 

Lane,  E.  W.  Selections  from  the  Koran. 

Muller,  Max.  Sacred  Books  of  the  East.  Vols.  VI  and  IX. 

II.  Authorities 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chap.  XI. 
Arnold,  J.  M.  Islam :  Its  History ,  Character ,  and  Relation  to 
Christianity . 

Bosworth-Smith,  R.  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism. 

1The  influence  of  the  Moors  and  their  scholarship  will  be  more  patent 
after  a  study  of  scholasticism  and  the  universities.  See  Chapters  VI  and 
IX. 


4 6  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

CoppfeE,  H.  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Spain  by  the  Arab- Moors. 
Especially  Bk.  X. 

Davidson,  T.  The  Brothers  of  Sincerity  (in  International  Journal 
of  Ethics.  July,  1898). 

Draper,  J.  W.  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe. 

Vol.  I,  Chaps.  XI  and  XIII,  and  Vol.  II,  Chaps.  II  and  IV. 
Freeman,  E.  A.  History  and  Conquests  of  the  Saracens. 

Muir,  W.  The  Rise  and  Decline  of  Islam. 

Neale,  F.  Rise  and  Progress  of  Islam. 

Scott,  S.  P.  History  of  the  Moorish  Empire  in  Europe. 

Stobart,  J.  W.  H.  Islam. 

Weil,  G.  Geschichte  der  Islamitischen  V biker. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  MYSTICISM  AND 

SCHOLASTICISM 

We  must  now  turn  to  a  consideration  of  the  mediaeval 
philosophy  and  its  effects  upon  education.  Like  most 
other  periods  of  civilization,  the  Middle  Ages  made  some 
attempt  to  formulate  its  attitude  toward  the  problems  of 
life.  Its  two  chief  methods  have  been  generally  known 
as  ‘mysticism’  and  ‘scholasticism.’  These  methods 
were,  in  a  way,  opposed  to  each  other.  Mysticism,  the 
earlier  movement,  was  emotional  and  immediate,  while 
scholasticism,  which  did  not  reach  its  height  until  toward 
the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  rather  intellectual 
and  mediate  in  method.  Yet  the  later  mystics,  in  the 
end,  borrowed  the  dialectic  of  the  scholastics,  while 
apparently  most  hostile  to  it,  and,  during  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries  the  two  methods  coalesced. 

The  Nature  and  Rise  of  Christian  Mysticism.  —  The 
prior  method,  mysticism ,  may  be  described  as  an  effort 
to  grasp  through  intuition  the  ultimate  reality  or  the 
Divine  essence,  and  thus  obtain  direct  communion  with 
the  highest.  To  the  mystic,  God  is  an  experience,  not 
an  object  of  reason ;  and  his  religion  stresses  the  reali¬ 
zation  of  the  Divine  to  such  an  extent  that  the  individual 
shall  lose  himself  therein,  and  all  relations  save  that 
between  himself  and  God  become  comparatively  unreal. 
Mysticism  is  a  life  of  contemplation  and  devout  com¬ 
munion,  and  usually  appears  in  history  when  a  religion 
has  begun  to  harden  into  formulae  and  ceremonial,  and 
constitutes  a  reaction  of  spirit  against  letter.  Thus  it 
arose  in  Christianity  from  much  the  same  causes  as 
monasticism, — the  vice  and  corruption  of  the  Roman 
world,  the  growing  secularization  of  the  Church,  and  the 

47 


The  two  me¬ 
diaeval  meth¬ 
ods  of  phi¬ 
losophy  are 
known  as 
*  mysticism  ’ 
and  ‘  scholas¬ 
ticism.' 


Mysticism  is 
the  effort  to 
hold  direct 
communion 
with  God. 


It  arose  in 
Christianity 
as  a  reaction 
of  spirit 
against  letter. 


48 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


demand  for  more  immediate  religious  experiences.  Most 
mystics  were  also  monks,  but  mysticism  constantly  re¬ 
curred  without  reference  to  monasticism  and  endured 
it  appeared  far  beyond  the  monastic  period.1  Mysticism  appeared 
early,  but  it  jn  Christianity  as  early  as  the  writings  of  the  disciple 
principles  ofe  John,  the  apostle  Paul,  and  the  first  Christian  Fathers, 
Plotinus  and  but  it  was  upon  the  principles  of  Plotinus  (205-270), 
Dtonysi'us0'  who  is  generally  regarded  as  the  founder  of  Neopla- 
that  medi-  tonism,  and  upon  the  procedure  implied  in  certain 
cism  based"  mystical  writings  of  the  fifth  century  by  the  Pseudo- 
its  training.  Dionysius,2  that  the  mediaeval  mystics  first  based  their 
training.  These  works  developed  a  species  of  esoteric 
Christianity,  of  which  the  following  summary  of  Dio¬ 
nysius  may  serve  to  give  an  idea :  — 

“  All  things  have  emanated  from  God,  and  the  end  of  all  is  return 
to  God.  Such  a  deification  is  the  consummation  of  the  creature,  that 
God  may  finally  be  all  in  all.  The  degree  of  real  existence  possessed 
by  any  being  is  the  amount  of  God  in  that  being  —  for  God  is  the 
existence  in  all  things.  The  more  or  less  of  God  which  the  various 
creatures  possess  is  determined  by  the  proximity  of  their  order  to  the 
center.  The  chain  of  being  in  the  upper  and  invisible  world  through 
which  the  Divine  Power  diffuses  itself  in  successive  gradations  is  the 
Celestial  Hierarchy.  The  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy  is  a  correspond¬ 
ing  series  in  the  visible  world.  The  (three)  orders  of  Angelic 
natures  and  of  priestly  functionaries  correspond  to  each  other.  The 
highest  rank  of  the  former  receives  illumination  immediately  from 
God.  The  lowest  of  the  heavenly  imparts  divine  light  to  the  highest 
of  the  earthly  hierarchy.  Each  order  strives  perpetually  to  approxi¬ 
mate  to  that  immediately  above  itself,  so  that  all  draw  and  are  drawn 
towards  the  center  —  God.”3 

1  Mysticism  appeared,  too,  before  the  day  of  Christianity  in  the  Brah- 
manic  ‘  absorption  ’  and  the  Buddhistic  ‘  nihilism,’  in  the  contemplative 
asceticism  of  the  Essenes,  in  Plato’s  doctrine  of  the  *  mystic  vision  ’ 
obtained  only  by  speculation,  in  the  esoteric  ‘  knowledge  ’  of  the  Gnostics, 
the  ecstatic  intuition  and  repudiation  of  the  sensible  and  material  in 
Neoplatonism,  and  in  the  syncretism  that  Philo  makes  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  and  the  Platonic  writings.  See  Graves,  History  of  Education  before 
the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  78-79,  188-189,  and  283-285. 

2  These  forgeries  were  attributed  to  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  who  was 
alleged  to  be  a  convert  of  the  apostle  Paul,  and  are  an  accommodation  of 
the  theosophy  of  Proclus  to  the  claims  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy. 
Read  Inge’s  Christian  Mysticism,  Chaps.  Ill  and  IV. 

3  Taken  from  Vaughn’s  Hours  with  the  Mystics,  pp.  113-115. 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  MYSTICISM 


49 


The  Education  in  Mediaeval  Mysticism.  —  From  such 
Neoplatonic  doctrine  did  the  mystics  obtain  their  elabora¬ 
tion  of  the  Platonic  psychology  and  their  educational 
practice.  Gradually  they  came  to  hold  that  there  are 
three  aspects  to  the  soul,  —  the  lowest  or  animal ,  through 
which  it  is  connected  with  the  body ;  next,  the  human , 
by  which  it  reasons  ;  and  finally,  the  superhuman ,  through 
which  there  is  union  with  the  divine  intelligence.  There 
are  thus  three  degrees  of  intensity  in  soul  experience,  and 
the  highest  can  be  obtained  only  by  withdrawal  from 
the  world  of  activity  and  sensation  into  that  of  thought, 
since  pure  existence,  or  God,  can  be  reached  and  grasped 
only  through  the  exclusion  of  sense.  Hence  the  train¬ 
ing  of  the  mystics  came  to  include  three  definite  steps, 
and  to  consist  in  a  most  extreme  type  of  discipline. 
First,  during  the  stage  of  purification ,  one  was  to  clear 
the  way  by  getting  rid  of  the  impressions  of  sense  ;  then, 
illumination  might  be  obtained  through  a  contest  with 
the  life  within  until  good  deeds  were  performed  by 
habit ;  when  finally,  in  the  stage  of  perfection ,  one  might, 
by  viewing  and  assimilating,  approximate  to  the  life  of 
God. 

The  Development  of  Mysticism.  —  It  can  be  seen  that 
by  the  time  this  analysis  of  the  soul  and  its  training  was 
made,  the  method  of  the  first  Christian  mystics  had 
been  greatly  changed.  Logical  gymnastics  had  come 
to  be  used  to  strengthen  the  mind  for  the  mystic  con¬ 
templation,  and  the  immediacy  of  the  religious  experi¬ 
ence  had  become  reconciled  with  considerable  discussion 
of  the  stages  through  which  the  soul  had  to  pass  in 
attaining  a  vision  of  the  Divine.  This  transformation 
of  mysticism  was  greatly  advanced  by  Joannes  Scotus 
Erigena  (810-876),  whom  we  have  seen  to  have  been 
instrumental  in  introducing  dialectics  and  broader  learn¬ 
ing  into  Europe.1  Erigena  used  the  writings  of  the 
Pseudo-Dionysius  as  the  basis  of  his  own  doctrines,  but 
to  a  great  extent  rejected  emanation  and  pantheism,  and 

1  See  p.  34. 

E 


There  were 
held  to  be 
three  aspects 
to  the  soul, — 
animal,  hu¬ 
man,  and 
superhuman, 
and  three 
stages  of 
training,  — 
purification, 
illumination, 
and  perfec¬ 
tion. 


Thus  logical 
gymnastics 
came  to  be 
used  to 
strengthen 
the  mind  for 
the  mystic 
contempla¬ 
tion, 


50 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  through 
the  later 
mystics,  — 
Erigena, 
Bernard,  the 
Victorines, 
and  Bona- 
ventura,  — 
mysticism 
came  to  com¬ 
bine  with 
scholasti¬ 
cism. 


Scholasti¬ 
cism  does 
not  indicate 
any  particu¬ 
lar  doctrines, 
but  a  pecul¬ 
iar  method 
of  the  later 
mediaeval 
period. 


made  more  of  an  attempt  to  describe  the  intervening 
steps  by  which  the  soul  reaches  the  Divine.  Three 
centuries  later,  the  monastic  reformer  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux  (1091-1153)  went  further  in  defining  the 
three  distinct  stages  through  which  reason  passes  in 
rising  to  its  vision  of  the  Divine,  although  he  still  held 
that  more  exalted  than  the  highest  of  these  is  an  ecstatic 
state,  like  that  of  St.  Paul,  by  means  of  which  one 
suddenly  obtains  a  direct  view.  Even  more  minute  dis¬ 
tinctions  were  recognized,  and  a  more  systematic  con¬ 
sideration  of  mysticism  was  made  in  the  twelfth  century 
by  Hugo  and  Richard  of  St.  Victor j1  and  in  the  thir¬ 
teenth  century  by  Bonaventura ,2  a  student  of  these 
Victorine  monks.  Six  divisions  of  the  soul  were  dis¬ 
tinguished,  and  as  many  stages  in  education  devised. 

The  Character  of  Scholasticism.  —  This  adoption  of 
dialectics  by  mysticism  shows  how  fully  it  had  come  to 
combine  with  the  philosophic  method  known  as  scholasti¬ 
cism.  The  name  of  this  later  movement  is  derived  from 
the  term  doctor  scholasticus ,  which  was  applied  during 
the  mediaeval  period  to  the  authorized  teachers  in  a 
monastic  or  episcopal  school,  for  it  was  among  these 
‘  schoolmen '  that  scholasticism  started  and  developed. 
Like  mysticism,  it  does  not  indicate  any  one  set  of  doc¬ 
trines,  but  is  rather  a  general  designation  for  the  pecul¬ 
iar  methods  and  tendencies  of  philosophic  speculation 
that  arose  within  the  Church  about  the  middle  of  the 
ninth  century,  came  to  their  height  in  the  twelfth  and 
the  thirteenth,  and  declined  rapidly  during  the  following 
century.  The  most  striking  characteristics  of  scholasti¬ 
cism  are  the  narrowness  of  its  field  and  the  thoroughness 
with  which  it  was  worked. 

The  History  of  Scholastic  Development.  —  Since  it  was 

1  St.  Victor  was  an  Augustinian  monastery  founded  by  William  of 
Champeaux  (see  p.  80)  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  which 
became  very  influential  in  awakening  piety.  It  grew  very  rich,  and  propa¬ 
gated  similar  foundations  in  Italy,  England,  Scotland,  and  Lower  Saxony. 

2  For  the  further  development  of  scholastic  mysticism,  see  Inge’s 
Christian  Mysticism ,  pp.  140-148. 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  SCHOLASTICISM  51 


assumed  that  the  Church  was  in  possession  of  all  final 
truth,  which  had  come  to  it  by  Divine  revelation,  the 
aim  of  the  schoolmen  at  first  was  to  show  how  these 
doctrines  were  consistent  with  each  other  and  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  reason.  In  the  earliest  stages  of  scholasti¬ 
cism,  however,  even  this  naive  supposition  that  reason 
and  dogma  were  in  harmony  did  not  prevent  the  Church 
from  becoming  suspicious  of  any  attempt  to  explain  its 
doctrines  on  the  basis  of  reason.  This  is  obvious  in  the 
attitude  of  the  Church  toward  Erigena,  who,  though 
primarily  a  mystic,  is  generally  accounted  the  first  of 
the  scholastics.  His  efforts  to  show  that  all  true  philoso¬ 
phy  is  identical  with  Church  doctrine  met  with  scant 
favor.1  It  was  felt  that  faith  was  sufficient  and  did  not 
stand  in  need  of  rational  defense. 

But  Erigena  was  simply  a  couple  of  centuries  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  his  time,  for  the  same  attitude  in  Anselm 
(1033-1109)  met  with  the  heartiest  approval  and  prob¬ 
ably  led  to  his  promotion  in  the  Church.  Anselm  be¬ 
lieved  in  the  accord  of  reason  with  dogma,  but  held  that 
faith  must  precede  knowledge  and  that  doubt  as  a  pre¬ 
liminary  step  to  belief  could  not  be  tolerated.  His 
position  is  shown  in  the  full  title  of  his  main  work,  — 
Monologue  of  the  Method  in  which  One  may  Account  for 
his  Faith .  He  makes  among  others  the  following  ex¬ 
plicit  statements :  — 

“  I  do  not  seek  to  know  in  order  that  I  may  believe,  but  I  believe 
in  order  that  I  may  know.” 

“The  Christian  ought  to  advance  to  knowledge  through  faith, 
not  come  to  faith  through  knowledge.” 

“  The  proper  order  demands  that  we  believe  the  deep  things  of 
Christian  faith  before  we  presume  to  reason  about  them.” 

If  one  is  not  successful  in  his  attempts  to  understand, 
Anselm  holds,  let  him  desist  and  submit  to  the  will  of 
God  as  manifested  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  Such 
a  failure,  however,  he  did  not  deem  likely,  and  he  him¬ 
self  spent  much  time  in  elucidating  the  various  dogmas, 

1  This  conviction  that  faith  and  reason  were  in  harmony  is  apparent  as 
early  as  Clement  in  the  Alexandrian  school. 


Its  first  aim 
was  to  show 
how  the  '  re¬ 
vealed  ’  doc¬ 
trines  of  the 
Church  ac¬ 
corded  with 
reason. 


While  in  this 
attitude 
Erigena 
seems  to 
have  been  in 
advance  of 
his  times. 


Anselm  was 
heartily  ap¬ 
proved  for 
the  same  po¬ 
sition  later. 


52 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


With  Anselm 
and  Roscel- 
linus  began 
the  dispute 
between  the 
‘  realists  ’  and 
‘nominalists.’ 


‘  Nominal¬ 
ism  ’  implied 
the  suffi¬ 
ciency  of  rea¬ 
son  and  was 
thus  hereti¬ 
cal. 

Roscellinus 
was  mar¬ 
tyred,  but  a 
great  growth 
in  the  use  of 
reason  is  ap¬ 
parent  in  the 
position  of 
Abelard. 


such  as  the  Trinity  and  the  Atonement,  and  became 
famous  for  his  ‘  ontological  ’  argument  for  the  existence 
of  God.1 

With  Anselm  and  his  great  opponent,  Roscelin  or 
Roscellinus  (1050-1106),  a  canon  of  Compiegne,  the 
dispute  between  the  realists  and  nominalists  became 
fixed,  and  divided  the  schoolmen  into  two  camps.  Real- 
ism,  of  which  Anselm  was  the  exponent,  is  based  upon 
Neoplatonism,  and  that  scholastic  held  with  Plato  that 
ideas  are  the  only  real  existence  and  individual  objects 
are  merely  phejiomena  (‘  appearances’).  To  the  realists, 
therefore,  universals  or  class  names  had  real  existence, 
and  the  more  general  a  term  the  more  real  it  was.  Ros¬ 
cellinus  and  the  subsequent  adherents  of  nominalism , 
on  the  other  hand,  held  that  the  class  term  is  only  a 
name ,  which  can  be  used  of  a  number  of  individual  ob¬ 
jects.  The  realists  maintained  that  the  senses  are  de¬ 
ceptive,  and  human  experience  is  too  limited  to  form 
the  basis  of  an  independent  judgment.  To  them  rea¬ 
son  was  reliable  only  as  it  supported  revealed  doctrine, 
and  so  realism  became  the  orthodox  position  of  the 
Church.  Nominalism,  on  the  contrary,  implied  the 
sufficiency  of  reason,  and  was,  therefore,  logically  de¬ 
structive  of  dogma.  But  Roscellinus  was  unconscious 
of  the  heresy  in  his  position,  and  vigorously  attacked 
Anselm’s  doctrines,  particularly  those  concerning  the 
Trinity. 

The  martyrdom  of  Roscellinus  in  1106  effectually 
suppressed  nominalism  for  two  centuries,  but  human 
reason  had  been  given  more  scope  and  began  to  exer¬ 
cise  itself  in  dialectic  without  consideration  of  any  ser- 

1  The  ‘  ontological  ’  argument  and  his  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  appear  in 
the  Proslogion ,  and  his  position  on  the  Atonement  in  his  Cur  JDeus  Homo. 
He  argued  that  God  must  exist  because  we  all  have  the  idea  of  a  most  per¬ 
fect  Being,  and  if  this  Being  did  not  possess  all  possible  qualities,  includ¬ 
ing  existence ,  another  might  be  more  perfect.  This  argument,  which  came 
originally  from  Augustine,  was  riddled  by  the  monk  Gaunilo,  but  it  seems 
to  have  appealed  to  Descartes,  Leibnitz,  and  other  great  philosophers,  who 
have  failed  to  distinguish  between  the  idea  of  a  thing  and  its  objective 
reality.  This  distinction  would  not,  of  course,  trouble  a  mediaeval  realist 
like  Anselm,  since  to  him  the  only  realities  were  ideas. 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  SCHOLASTICISM  53 


vice  to  doctrine.  A  great  growth  in  the  use  of  reason 
is  apparent  in  the  position  of  Pierre  Abelard 1  (1079- 
1142),  the  greatest  of  the  schoolmen.  Philosophically, 
Abelard  held  to  conceptualism ,  and  undertook  to  mediate 
between  realism  and  nominalism.  He  held  that,  while 
a  class  term  has  no  objective  existence,  it  is  not  merely  a 
sound  or  a  word,  out  of  all  relation  to  individual  objects, 
but  an  expression  of  a  similarity  of  qualities  in  objects.2 
While  his  attitude  in  this  matter  of  universals  seems 
irenic,  his  inexorable  logic  led  him  to  reverse  the  posi¬ 
tion  of  Anselm  and  the  realists.  He  felt  that  the  only 
justification  of  a  doctrine  is  its  reasonableness,  that  rea¬ 
son  must  precede  faith,  and  that  it  is  not  sinful  to  doubt. 
Hence  in  the  prologue  to  his  chief  work,  the  Sic  et  Non 
(‘Yes  and  No  ’),  he  holds  :  — 

“  Constant  and  frequent  questioning  is  the  first  key  to  wisdom. 
.  .  .  For  through  doubting  we  are  led  to  inquire,  and  by  inquiry 
we  perceive  the  truth.  As  the  Truth  Himself  says :  i  Seek  and  ye 
shall  find,  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.1  .  .  .  Now 
when  a  number  of  quotations  from  various  writings  are  introduced 
they  spur  on  the  reader  and  allure  him  into  seeking  the  truth  in  pro¬ 
portion  as  the  authority  of  the  writing  itself  is  commended.” 

Accordingly,  on  each  problem  he  presented  a  number 
of  selections  from  the  Scriptures  and  the  Christian 
F'athers  that  were  clearly  in  conflict  with  each  other. 
He  thus  indicated  that  Christian  doctrine  was  by  no 
means  a  settled  matter,  and  stimulated  investigation  in 
the  place  of  an  unthinking  adherence  to  tradition  and 
authority.  The  extent  to  which  he  dared  to  go  in  his 
endeavors  in  behalf  of  inquiry  and  reason  is  shown  by 
the  fundamental  doctrines  that  he  challenged  in  his  Sic 
et  Non.  Among  his  questions  are  these  :3  — 

“  Should  human  faith  be  based  on  reason,  or  not?” 

“Is  God  tripartite,  or  not?” 

“Do  the  Divine  Persons  mutually  differ,  or  not?  ” 

1  Also  often  Latinized  as  Petrus  Abelardus. 

2  He  even  thought  that  the  name  might  be  said  to  have  had  real  exist¬ 
ence  as  a  concept  in  the  Divine  mind  before  Creation  took  place. 

8  There  were  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  questions  in  all. 


His  *  con¬ 
ceptualism  ’ 
was  irenic, 
but  his  Sic  et 
Non  advo¬ 
cated  reason 
and  investi¬ 
gation. 


54 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


This  rational¬ 
istic  tendency 
spread 
through 
Moorish  in¬ 
fluences  and 
the  recovery 
of  Aristotle, 
and  scholas¬ 
tic  thought 
was  brought 
to  a  culmina¬ 
tion  with  the 
work  of  a 
number  of 
prominent 
schoolmen. 


“Is  God  the  Father  the  cause  of  the  Son,  or  not?” 

“Can  God  be  resisted,  or  not?” 

“  Does  God  know  all  things,  or  not?” 

“  Did  man’s  first  sin  begin  through  the  devil,  or  not?  ” 

“Do  we  sometimes  sin  unwillingly,  or  not?” 

“  Does  God  punish  the  same  sin  both  here  and  in  the  hereafter, 
or  not?” 

Abelard’s  own  interpretations  of  the  Trinity  and  other 
doctrines  were  decidedly  rationalistic.  His  life  was, 
therefore,  filled  with  bitter  opposition  and  persecution, 
but  the  tendency  he  fostered  was  destined  to  spread. 
This  tendency  was  magnified  by  several  movements 
of  the  times.  By  the  contact  of  Europeans  with  the 
Greek  philosophy  through  the  Mohammedans  in  Spain, 
and  more  directly,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  through 
the  recovery  of  the  Aristotelian  Ethics,  Physics,  Meta¬ 
physics,  and  other  works,  the  scholastic  world  was  in¬ 
troduced  to  a  mind  of  the  highest  order  that  did  not 
devote  itself  exclusively  to  theology.  In  this  way  the 
development  of  the  scholastic  thought  was  brought  to  a 
culmination.  When  the  Church  saw  that  its  whole  sys¬ 
tem  was  threatened,  and  that  it  had  failed  to  suppress 
the  uprising  by  burning  heretics  and  anathematizing 
Aristotle,  it  donned  the  Aristotelian  armor  itself  and 
utilized  the  works  of  the  Greek  philosopher  for  its  own 
defense.  Through  an  authoritative  interpretation,  Aris¬ 
totle  himself  was  used  as  a  means  of  suppressing  reason. 
Reason  thereafter  was  made  identical  with  Aristotle, 
whose  authority  was  not  to  be  disputed.  The  inquiry 
was  not  as  to  what  is  rational,  but  what  does  Aristotle 
say  on  the  subject.  Thus  were  philosophy  and  theology 
once  more  allied,  and  during  the  thirteenth  century 
scholasticism  reached  its  zenith.  Among  the  more 
prominent  schoolmen  of  this  period  were  Alexander 
of  Hales  (?-i245),  the  *  irrefragable  ’  doctor;  Albertus 
Magnus  (1193-1280),  the  ‘universal’  doctor;  Bona- 
ventura  (1221-1274),1  the  ‘seraphic’  doctor;  Thomas 

1  Bonaventura  has  been  seen  (p.  50)  to  combine  scholasticism  with 
mysticism.  While  his  pietistic  tendencies  made  him  a  mystic,  his  analyses 
and  classifications  place  him  among  the  leading  schoolmen. 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  SCHOLASTICISM  55 


Aquinas  (1225-1274),  the  *  angelic  ’  doctor;  Duns  Scotus 
( 1 274-1 30 8),  the  ‘  subtle  ’  doctor ;  and  William  of  Occam 
(1280-1347),  the  ‘invincible’  doctor. 

Of  all  these  Aqumas  stands  preeminent.  Like  his 
master,  Albertus,  he  strove  to  support  the  tottering 
dogmas  of  the  Church.  It  had  become  evident  that 
faith  and  reason  are  not  always  in  harmony.  This, 
Aquinas  held,  does  not  imply  a  contradiction.  Reason, 
as  far  as  it  can  go,  is  in  accord  with  faith,  but  truths 
have  been  revealed  that  are  beyond  the  range  of  reason, 
and  faith,  through  which  one  secures  them,  is  the  highest 
power  of  the  mind.  Hence,  after  the  method  of  Aristotle, 
Aquinas  reduced  all  existence  to  a  hierarchy,  making 
body  subordinate  to  soul,  matter  to  spirit,  philosophy  to 
theology,  and  the  secular  to  the  ecclesiastical.  This 
position  is  obvious  in  his  great  treatise,  Summa  Theologice 
( ‘  The  Sum  of  Theology  ’),  which  has  remained  up  to 
the  present  as  the  basis  of  orthodoxy  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.1  But  the  separation  of  revelation  and 
reason  becomes  more  marked  from  the  position  of  Duns 
Scotus  and  William  of  Occam  in  the  dispute  with  which 
scholasticism  declined  and  came  to  a  close.2  While  the 
disciples  of  Aquinas,  who  still  inclined  somewhat  toward 
realism,  maintained  that  the  intellect  of  God  is  supreme 
and  that  his  will  is  determined  by  his  knowledge,  they 
were  opposed  by  the  argument  of  Scotus  and  Occam 
that  God  must  be  a  completely  free  will,  for  if  his  will 
is  determined  by  an  eternal  truth  above  him,  there  is 
something  superior  to  God.  Hence  with  them  truth 
and  falsehood  are  established  by  the  fiat  of  God,  and 
ecclesiastical  dogmas  are  not  matters  of  reason,  but 
purely  of  faith.  As  a  result  of  this  breach  between 

1  There  were  numerous  Summce  Theologice  written  by  various  school¬ 
men.  They  did  not  represent  the  peculiar  views  of  the  author,  but  were 
intended  to  present  in  a  systematized  form  the  authoritative  teaching  of 
the  Church. 

2  After  the  time  of  Aquinas  scholasticism  met  with  a  marked  and  rapid 
decline.  It  descended  into  endless  quibbles  and  trivialities.  Such  school¬ 
men  as  Gerson  (1363-1429),  who  desired  greater  warmth  and  spiritual 
experience,  leaned  more  toward  mysticism. 


Of  these 
Aquinas  was 
preeminent, 
and  his 
Summa 
Theologice 
is  still  the 
basis  of  Ro¬ 
man  Catholic 
orthodoxy. 
The  separa¬ 
tion  between 
revelation 
and  reason 
made  by 
Aquinas  was 
increased  by 
the  dispute 
between  the 
Thomistsand 
the  Scotists. 


Two  types  of 
truth  arose, 
with  the  tend¬ 
ency  to  em¬ 
phasize  that 
supported  by 
reason. 


56 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Thus, 

throughout, 
scholasticism 
tended  more 
and  more  to 
rationalize 
the  Church 
doctrines. 


Scholastic 
education 
was  organ¬ 
ized  in  the 
monastic  and 
episcopal 
schools,  and 


revelation  and  reason,  there  arose  two  types  of  truth, 
and  a  tendency  grew  up  to  choose  that  type  which  was 
supported  by  reason. 

The  Tendency  of  Scholasticism.  —  Thus  there  is  summed 
up  in  scholasticism  a  series  of  movements  that  tended  to 
awaken  the  mediaeval  mind.  Scholasticism  began  as  an 
effort  to  vanquish  heresy  in  the  interest  of  the  Church 
dogmas,  which  until  then  it  had  not  generally  been 
necessary  to  explain.  At  first  it  was  held  that  faith 
must  precede  reason,  and  where  reason  was  incapable 
of  penetrating  the  mysteries  of  revealed  doctrine,  it  must 
desist  from  its  efforts.  But  the  conviction  was  growing 
that  human  reason  is  reliable  and  that  truth  can  be 
reached  only  through  investigation.  The  complete 
revolution  that  this  threatened  was  for  a  time  averted, 
but  a  separation  of  the  spheres  of  revealed  and  rational 
truth  led  to  an  emphasis  of  the  truth  which  had  reason 
on  its  side.  The  schoolmen  were,  then,  throughout 
attempting  to  rationalize  the  teachings  of  the  Church, 
and  to  present  them  in  scientific  form.  As  an  education, 
scholasticism  aimed  also  at  furnishing  a  training  in 
dialectic  and  an  intellectual  discipline  that  should  make 
the  student  both  keen  and  learned  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  times. 

Its  Educational  Organization  and  Content. — The 

schoolmen  were  generally  identified  with  educational  in¬ 
stitutions  of  one  sort  or  another.  The  origin  of  scholas¬ 
ticism,  it  has  been  indicated,1  came  through  the  teachers 
in  the  monastic  and  episcopal  schools  of  the  period,  but 
the  intellectual  awakening  bound  up  in  the  movement 
tended  to  bring  about  a  development  of  those  schools 
into  universities,  especially  in  the  North  of  Europe. 
However,  the  rise  of  universities  will  require  separate 
discussion,  and  the  scholastic  organization  must  be  con¬ 
fined  here  to  the  monastic  and  episcopal  schools.  The 
course  of  study  in  these  schools  came,  toward  the  close 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  to  consist  in  the  beliefs  of  the 


1  See  p.  50. 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  SCHOLASTICISM  57 

Church  and  the  limited  learning  of  the  times  arranged 
in  a  systematized  form  largely  on  the  deductive  basis 
of  the  Aristotelian  logic.  This  knowledge  could  all  be 
grouped  under  the  head  of  philosophical  theology.  The 
great  doctrines  of  the  Church,  —  the  Trinity,  Atonement, 
Predestination,  and  other  concepts,  were  taught,  and  all 
secular  material,  even  the  most  abstract  of  philosophical 
problems,  was  dealt  with  from  a  theological  point  of  view. 

The  Method  of  Presentation.  —  Admirable  illustrations 
of  the  way  in  which  these  doctrines  were  usually  pre¬ 
sented  can  be  found  in  the  Sententice  Opinions  of 
Peter  the  Lombard  (1 100-1 160),1  a  pupil  of  Abelard’s 
and  a  teacher  at  Paris,  and  in  the  Summa  Theologies, 
already  mentioned  as  the  chief  work  of  Aquinas.  These 
manuals,  especially  the  Sententice ,2  were  generally  used 
as  texts  in  the  schools  of  the  time.  The  work  of 
Aquinas  has  four  main  parts,  under  each  of  which  is 
grouped  a  number  of  problems.  Every  problem  is  con¬ 
cerned  with  some  fundamental  doctrine,  and  is  further 
divided  into  several  subtopics.  After  the  problem  has 
been  stated,  first  the  arguments  and  authorities  for  the 
various  solutions  other  than  the  orthodox  one  are  given 
and  refuted  in  regular  order,  then  the  proper  solution 
with  its  arguments  is  set  forth,  and  finally,  the  different 
objections  to  it  are  answered  in  a  similarly  systematic 
way.  The  Sententice  is  likewise  divided  into  four  parts, 
and  under  each  head  Peter  cites  the  arguments  for  the 
unorthodox  side  before  drawing  his  conclusion. 

This  general  method  of  presentation  so  current  in  scho¬ 
lastic  times,  with  its  formal  deductions  and  finalities,  seems 
decidedly  dogmatic  to  us  to-day.  But  there  is  little  doubt 
but  that,  as  a  result  of  the  influence  of  Abelard’s  Sic  et 
Non ,  it  was  much  more  elastic  than  it  would  have  been. 
While  Abelard  intended  to  arouse  free  inquiry  and  does 
not  undertake  in  any  place  to  do  more  than  indicate  the 

1  Peter  was  inspired  by  the  enthusiasm  and  eloquence  of  Abelard,  but 
did  not  abandon  his  own  orthodoxy. 

2  Norton  ( Mediceval  Universities ,  p.  77)  indicates  that  there  may  have 
been  several  hundred  commentaries  written  on  this  work. 


consisted  in 
the  limited 
learning  of 
the  times, 
systematized 
on  the  basis 
of  the  Aris¬ 
totelian 
deduction. 


Illustrations 
of  this  sys- 
temization 
are  found  in 
Peter  the 
Lombard’s 
Sententice 
and  Aquinas’ 
Summa 
Theologies . 


This  dog¬ 
matic  method 
was  more 
elastic  than 
it  would  have 
been,  through 
the  influence 
of  Abelard’s 
Sic  et  Non. 


58 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Scholasti¬ 
cism  has 
generally 
been  under¬ 
estimated. 


It  was  too 
much  system- 
ized,  but 
system  ization 
is  natural  to 
reasoning 
beings,  and 
this  tendency 
did  a  great 
service  for 
knowledge 
and  accuracy 
in  thinking. 


The  field  was 
limited  by 
the  strict 
orthodoxy  of 


solution  that  seems  on  the  whole  to  be  most  satisfactory, 
the  form  at  least  of  his  method  appears  in  practically 
every  mediaeval  textbook  after  his  day.  While  such  a 
method  as  Abelard’s  may  well  be  judged  to  be  weak  in 
yielding  definite  didactic  results,  it  must  have  greatly 
assisted  the  cause  of  reason  and  the  freedom  of  thought. 

Scholasticism  and  Its  Influence.  —  As  a  whole,  the 
work  of  the  schoolmen  has  been  underestimated.  From 
the  time  that  scholasticism  rang  its  own  knell  until  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  never  studied 
sympathetically  or  in  historic  perspective.  In  the  years 
following  its  decline  there  was  a  tremendous  reaction 
against  it,  and  it  was  the  habit  of  philosophers  and 
scientists,  especially  those  of  the  sixteenth  and  seven¬ 
teenth  centuries,  to  sneer  at  and  condemn  utterly  its 
peculiar  method  and  content.  It  was  urged  that  it  had 
ruined  all  spiritual  realities  by  its  extreme  systemization 
of  religion,  that  it  dealt  with  mere  abstractions,  with  a 
slavish  adherence  to  Aristotle,  and  that  it  indulged  in 
over-subtle  distinctions  and  verbal  quibbles,  couched  in 
the  most  absurd  jargon. 

But  no  movement  can  be  fairly  judged  apart  from  its 
historic  connections.  Unless  we  consider  the  origin  and 
environment  of  scholasticism,  we  are  sure  to  do  this  tend¬ 
ency  a  grave  injustice.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the 
schoolmen  did  reduce  all  the  knowledge  of  the  day  to 
an  extreme  logical  system,  based  upon  the  deductive 
method  of  Aristotle,  which  became  a  great  obstacle  to 
progress  and  the  revival  of  learning.  But  since  it  is  the 
nature  of  reasoning  beings  to  analyze,  compare,  and 
classify,  the  schoolmen  had  to  resort  to  some  system, 
and  the  only  available  method  was  that  of  the  great 
Greek  philosopher.  In  this  way,  however,  they  also  did 
a  great  service  to  knowledge.  They  found  a  confused 
mass  of  traditional  and  irrational  doctrines  and  practices, 
and  made  them  systematic,  rational,  and  scientific,  and 
greatly  assisted  accuracy  in  thinking.  Moreover,  the 
range  of  knowledge  with  which  the  scholastics  were 
permitted  to  deal  was  exceedingly  narrow.  Unless  they 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  SCHOLASTICISM  59 


would  subject  themselves  to  persecution  and  martyrdom, 
they  could  defend  only  such  theses  as  the  Church  held 
to  be  orthodox;  and  they  were,  therefore,  obliged  to 
exercise  their  keen  analytic  minds  most  intensively,  and 
so  divided,  subdivided,  and  systematized  their  material 
beyond  all  measure.  It  is  but  natural  under  such  cir¬ 
cumstances  that  the  spirit  of  religion  should  be  crushed, 
and  that  more  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  theories 
than  experience. 

Nor  is  it  remarkable  that  the  subject-matter  with 
which  the  schoolmen  dealt  should  seem  to  be  mere 
metaphysical  abstractions  from  which  only  formal  prin¬ 
ciples  could  be  derived.  The  value  of  the  scholastic 
material  and  the  completeness  of  its  data  were  not 
scanned  at  all  critically,  but  the  scientific  method  had 
not  been  invented  as  yet,  and  scholasticism  did  much 
to  make  it  possible.  It  may  also  be  granted  that  the 
scholastic  discussions  not  only  did  not  seem  to  con¬ 
cern  actual  life  in  their  content,  but  even  appeared  to 
have  little  validity  in  thought,  and  ofttimes  consisted  of 
mere  argument  over  words  and  of  extreme  hair-splitting. 
But  this  does  not  indicate  that  they  were  altogether 
purposeless  or  as  absurd  as  they  seemed.  For  example, 
the  celebrated  inquiry  of  Aquinas  as  to  the  number  of 
angels  that  could  stand  on  the  point  of  a  needle  contains 
more  sense  than  appears  on  the  surface,  and  is  simply 
an  attempt  to  present  the  nature  of  the  Infinite  in  con¬ 
crete  form.  The  further  censure  of  scholasticism  for 
using  a  ridiculous  and  incomprehensible  jargon  is  equally 
unfair.  While  the  later  schoolmen  may  have  carried 
scientific  terms  to  an  extreme,  as  in  the  case  of  their 
classifying  and  their  quibbling,  they  are  not  the  only 
offenders,  and  the  very  invention  of  a  technical  language 
has  contributed  much  to  modern  accuracy  of  termi¬ 
nology  and  the  definition  of  truth  since  their  day. 

In  fact,  as  a  result  of  the  terrific  struggle  to  overcome 
the  traditions,  authority,  and  oppression  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  with  the  necessity  for  ridding  progress  of  all 
obstacles  of  outworn  method  and  content,  we  have  been 


the  Church, 
and  the  sub¬ 
ject-matter 
was  necessa¬ 
rily  abstract ; 
and,  since 
the  scientific 
method  did 
not  yet  ex¬ 
ist,  the  value 
and  com¬ 
pleteness  of 
data  were 
not  critically 
considered. 


But  scholas¬ 
tic  discus¬ 
sions  were 
often  not  as 
absurd 
as  they  seem, 
and  the  criti¬ 
cism  for 
using  a  jar¬ 
gon  is  unfair. 


Scholasti¬ 
cism  liber¬ 
ated  philoso¬ 
phy  from 
theology,  un¬ 
consciously 
aided  reason 
against  au¬ 
thority,  and 
produced 
subtle  and 
acute  minds. 


6o 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Both  mysti¬ 
cism  and 
scholasticism 
were  of  great 
benefit  to 
mediaeval 
education, 
and  helped 
prepare  the 
way  for  an 
intellectual 
awakening. 


blinded  to  the  way  in  which  scholasticism  fulfilled  its 
mission.  The  discussions  of  the  schoolmen  resulted  in 
liberating  philosophy  from  theology,  and,  without  in¬ 
tending  it  perhaps,  scholasticism  aided  the  cause  of 
human  reason  against  authority.  It  greatly  stimulated 
intellectual  interests  and  for  several  centuries  must  have 
constituted  the  only  real  intellectual  training.  It  pro¬ 
duced  the  most  subtle  and  acute  minds  of  the  age,  made 
great  intellects  far  more  common  in  succeeding  periods, 
and  through  its  own  development  made  the  scholastic 
attitude  impossible. 

The  Relations  of  Mysticism  and  Scholasticism  to  Edu¬ 
cation.  —  Thus,  while  both  these  mediaeval  trends  of 
thought  are  of  more  importance  to  the  history  of  philos¬ 
ophy  than  to  the  development  of  education,  they  are  not 
without  considerable  educational  significance.  Neither 
one  crystallized  in  a  new  educational  institution,  but 
both  found  some  means  of  expression  in  the  existing 
schools  of  the  monasteries  and  cathedrals.  The  mystic 
training  throughout  proved  the  means  of  securing  lofty 
and  immediate  religious  experience,  and  was  of  great 
benefit  to  monastic  education,  especially  in  periods 
of  stagnation  or  actual  retrogression.  Scholasticism 
brought  about  a  tremendous  intellectual  activity  and 
gave  to  the  monastic  and  episcopal  institutions  a  new 
life,  which  was  to  a  large  extent  consummated  in  the 
universities  that  afterward  arose.  The  awakening, 
mental  and  moral,  produced  by  these  two  movements, 
helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation,  and  while  not  preserved  in  any  special 
type  of  school,  mysticism  and  scholasticism  cannot  be 
neglected  in  any  account  of  education. 


EDUCATIONAL  TENDENCIES  OF  SCHOLASTICISM  6 1 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 


Abelard.  Sic  et  Non. 

Anselm.  Cur  Deus  Homo ,  Monologion,  and  Proslogion  (translated 
by  Deane  in  the  Religion  of  Science  Library'). 

Aquinas.  Summa  Theologice  (translated  by  Rickaby). 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  De  Consider  atione,  De  Contemptu 
Mundi,  and  De  Gradibus  Humilitatis . 

Bonaventura.  Reductio  Artium  ad  Theologiam. 

Dionysius  Areopagitica.  De  Cceli  Hierarchia ,  De  Ecclesice  Hier- 
ar cilia,  and  De  Mystica  Theologia. 

Erigena.  De  Divisione  Natures  and  De  Prcedestinatione. 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor.  Didascalion  (see  Das  Lehrbuch  in  Samm- 
lung  Padagogisc her  Schriften,  Band  XXIII),  De  Sacramentis , 
and  Eruditio  Didascalica. 

Peter  the  Lombard.  Sententice. 

Plotinus.  Enneades  VI. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor.  De  Contemplations. 

II.  Authorities 

Church,  R.  W.  Saint  Anselm. 

Compayre,  G.  Abelard.  Pt.  I,  Chaps.  I  and  II. 

De  Wulf,  M.  History  of  Mediceval  Philosophy  (translated  by 
Coffey). 

Drane,  A.  T.  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars.  Pp.  170-2 17. 

Draper,  J.  W.  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe.  Vol.  II, 
Chap.  I. 

Emerton,  E.  Mediceval  Europe.  Chap.  XIII. 

Erdmann,  J.  E.  The  History  of  Philosophy  (translated  by 
Hough).  Vol.  I,  Pt.  II. 

Haureau,  B.  Histoire  de  la  Philosophie  Scholastique. 

Inge,  W.  R.  Christian  Mysticism. 

Inge,  W.  R.  Personal  Idealism  and  Mysticism. 

La  Croix,  P.  Science  and  Literature  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Pp. 
47-53- 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Rise  and  Constitution  of  Universities.  Lects.  V, 
VI,  and  IX. 

McCabe,  J.  Abelard. 

Maurice,  F.  D.  Mediceval  Philosophy  from  the  Fifth  to  the  Four - 
teenth  Century. 

Milman,  H.  H.  History  of  Latin  Christianity .  Bk.  XIV,  Chap. 
III. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  The  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great.  Chap.  V, 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  The  University  of  Cambridge.  Chap.  Ill, 

Oman,  J.  C.  The  Mystics,  Ascetics ,  and  Saints  of  India. 


62 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Poole,  R.  L.  Illustrations  of  the  History  of  Mediaeval  Thought . 
Chaps.  II-V  and  VIII. 

Rashdall,  H.  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Vol. 
I,  Chap.  II. 

Recejac,  E.  Essays  on  the  Bases  of  Mystic  Knowledge  (trans¬ 
lated  by  Upton). 

Schmid,  H.  Der  Mysticismus  in  Seine  Entstehungsperiode. 

Storrs,  R.  S.  Bernard  of  Clair vaux. 

Townsend,  W.  J.  The  Great  Schoobnen  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Ueberweg,  F.  History  of  Philosophy  (translated  by  Morris).  II, 
Second  Period. 

Windelband,  W.  A  History  of  Philosophy  (translated  by  Tufts). 
Part  III. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  FEUDALISM  AND  CHIVALRY 

The  Origin  of  Feudalism.  —  Feudalism  was  an  order 
of  society  and  government  which  gradually  grew  up  in 
the  Middle  Ages  out  of  certain  private  relations.  Feu¬ 
dal  elements  existed  throughout  the  mediaeval  period 
alongside  of  the  regular  political  organization,  and  when, 
under  the  successors  of  Charlemagne,  the  monarchy 
became  weak  and  inadequate,  society  tended  to  fall  back 
upon  these  relations  as  a  means  of  control.  In  the  un¬ 
settled  conditions  of  the  early  Middle  Ages,  small  land- 
owners,  and  freemen  lacking  land  altogether,  came  to 
depend  upon  some  powerful  neighbor  for  protection, 
and  to  seek  from  him  a  dependent  tenure  of  land.  In 
time  these  lords  acquired  a  genuine  sovereignty  over 
their  tenants,  and  were  regarded  as  rulers  as  well  as 
personal  superiors.  Taxes  were  paid  them,  and  a  sys¬ 
tem  of  private  courts  and  legal  fines  grew  up.  The 
tenants  went  to  war  under  the  leadership  of  their  lords, 
and  military  service  on  horseback  became  generally 
attached  to  the  holding  of  land.  Often  the  land  was 
subdivided  and  lower  orders  of  nobility  thus  arose.  In 
this  way,  about  the  year  900,  the  feudal  relations  that 
had  at  first  been  private  and  subsidiary  were,  through 
lack  of  a  strong  central  control,  erected  into  a  regular 
form  of  government.1  This  system  was  not  disrupted 
until  toward  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  when  certain 
suzerains  or  overlords,  who  had  been  earlier  chosen  from 
their  own  number  by  the  feudal  nobles,  succeeded  in 
turning  themselves  into  genuine  sovereigns. 

1  Adams  ( Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages ,  pp.  194-2 17)  gives  a 
more  definite  and  slightly  different  account  of  the  way  in  which  the  Roman 
institutions  of  the  pracarium  and  patrocinium'wexe  combined  and  adopted 
by  the  Franks,  and  of  how,  through  the  introduction  of  military  service  as 
a  condition  of  land  tenure,  aided  by  grants  of ‘immunity  ’  and  by  usurpa¬ 
tion,  the  feudal  relation  of  jurisdictio  was  instituted. 

63 


As  the 
monarchy 
became 
weak,  the 
dependence 
upon  a 
powerful 
neighbor  and 
the  private 
sovereignty 
of  feudalism 
grew  into  a 
regular  form 
of  govern¬ 
ment,  and 
a  gulf  arose 
between  no¬ 
bility  and 
peasantry. 


64 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  serious 
business  of 
the  feudal 
noble  was 
fighting,  and 
to  prepare 
him  for  this, 
mock  battles 
were  en¬ 
gaged  in, 
which 
eventually 
degenerated 
into  a  pas¬ 
time  and 
pageant. 


Conse¬ 
quently,  the 
good  usage 
of  feudal 
times,  known 
as  ‘  chivalry,’ 
is  divided 
into  two 
periods, — 
that  before 
the  twelfth 
century  being 
an  ‘  heroic 
age,’  and  that 
afterward  an 
‘  age  of 
courtesy.’ 


Hence,  by  the  tenth  century,  there  came  to  be  a  great 
social  gulf  between  the  nobility,  who  owned  the  land  and 
lived  in  castles,  and  the  peasantry,  who  tilled  the  soil 
and  supported  them.  It  is,  of  course,  the  life  of  the 
nobles  that  gives  picturesqueness  to  the  times.  Their 
only  serious  business  was  fighting  with  spear,  sword,  or 
battle-axe,  in  their  own  quarrel  or  that  of  their  feudal 
superior.  These  battles  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  con¬ 
ducted  by  companies  of  mailed  knights  charging  on 
horseback,  and  consisted  largely  of  feats  of  arms  per¬ 
formed  in  personal  combat.  To  prepare  for  this  war¬ 
fare,  mock  combats  may  have  been  occasionally  engaged 
in  as  early  as  the  ninth  century.  Within  two  centuries, 
however,  these  mimic  encounters  became  organized  into 
a  definite  species  of  pastime  called  a  tournament ,  and, 
during  the  following  centuries,  they  degenerated  into 
mere  pageants  and  were  eventually  carried  to  an  absurd 
extreme.1  When  the  knight  was  not  engaged  with  war 
or  the  tournament,  as  he  had  few  intellectual  resources, 
he  amused  himself  with  hunting  or  hawking,  or  with 
feasting,  drinking,  and  minstrelsy  in  the  great  hall  of 
the  castle. 

Chivalry  and  Its  Development.  —  The  good  social 
usage  of  these  times  has  been  known  ever  since  as 
chivalry ,2  and  is  as  little  susceptible  of  explanation  as 
the  code  of  manners  of  any  other  period.  The  best 
idea  of  it  is  obtained  from  the  popular  literature  of  that 
day,  which  deals  almost  entirely  with  the  knight  and  his 
ideal  behavior.  While  chivalry  differed  somewhat  in 
different  places  and  from  time  to  time,  it  may  in  general 
be  divided  into  two  periods.  Chivalry  before  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century  may  be  considered  that  of  the 
heroic  age ,  during  which  the  ideal  knight  was  extraor¬ 
dinarily  strong  and  brave,  and  was  devoted  to  God, 
his  country,  and  king.  This  crude  but  vigorous  period, 
however,  of  which  Raoul  de  Cambrai  and  the  Chanson 

1  Scott’s  Ivanhoe  furnishes  us  with  a  lively  picture  of  these  institutions, 
but  the  descriptions  of  this  author  must  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  allowance. 

2  French  chevalerie  (‘knighthood’),  an  abstract  noun  derived  from 
chevcil  (‘  horse  ’). 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  FEUDALISM  AND  CHIVALRY  6 5 


de  Roland (‘  Song  of  Roland  ’)  are  the  typical  expression, 
was  succeeded  by  an  age  of  courtesy.  The  characteris¬ 
tics  of  this  later  period  appeared  first  in  the  wealthy 
nobility  of  southern  France,  and  were  largely  the  prod¬ 
ucts  of  the  stereotyped  organization  into  which  chivalry 
fell  during  the  Crusades.  The  ideals  and  rules  of  chiv¬ 
alry  became  fixed  and  formal,  and  the  art  of  horseman¬ 
ship  and  the  management  of  the  lance  and  sword  were 
developed  and  settled.  Instead  of  the  simple  and 
natural  relations  growing  out  of  primitive  social  condi¬ 
tions,  we  find  gallantry,  the  graces  of  society,  and 
romantic  adventures  as  the  chief  ideals  of  the  period. 
The  lyrics  of  the  Provencal  Troubadours  and  the  German 
Minnesingers ,  the  longer  narrative  poems  based  upon 
the  Arthurian  legends,  classical  stories,  and  the  German 
sagas,  give  expression  to  the  artificiality  and  extravagance 
of  this  age,  and  the  absurdities  to  which  it  went  marked 
the  dissolution  of  feudalism. 

The  Ideals  of  Chivalric  Education.  —  It  was  out  of  this 
latter  stage,  however,  that  chivalric  education  arose. 
The  ideals  of  knightly  conduct  and  of  education  for  the 
life  of  chivalry  may  be  summed  up  under  service  arid 
obedience.  These  manifestations  of  loyalty  were  to  be 
rendered  to  God,  as  represented  by  the  organized 
Church,  to  one’s  lord,  or  feudal  superior,  and  to  one’s 
lady,  whose  favor  the  knight  wore  in  battle  or  tourna¬ 
ment.  The  three  ruling  motives  of  chivalry  were,  there¬ 
fore,  religion ,  honor ,  and  gallantry.  The  feudal  knight 
was  expected  to  show  reverence  for  his  superiors  and 
gentleness  toward  the  weak  and  defenceless.  He  was 
to  be  brave  and  chivalrous  in  battle,  to  defend  the  Church 
and  his  religion,  and  to  hold  womankind  in  high  esteem. 

The  Three  Stages  of  Education  Preparatory  to  Knight¬ 
hood.  —  There  may  be  said  to  have  been  three  periods 
in  the  training  of  a  knight.  First,  until  the  child  was 
seven  or  eight,  he  was  trained  at  home  by  his  mother.1 

1  An  ingenious,  but  rather  tedious  and  uncritical  reconstruction  of  the 
chivalric  education  can  be  found  in  Gautier’s  Chivalry ,  Chaps.  V-XX, 
where,  in  the  form  of  a  story,  he  describes  the  life  of  a  knight  from  birth  to 
death. 


Out  of  this 
latter  arose 
chivalric  edu¬ 
cation  with 
its  ideals  of 
religion, 
honor,  and 
gallantry. 


Before 

knighthood  a 
training  was 
given  the 
boy  at  home, 
and  as  ‘page’ 
and  ‘  squire  ’ 
at  the  castle 
of  some  lord. 


66 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  1  page ' 
performed 
personal 
duties  for  his 
lord  and  lady, 
learned 
games  and 
‘  courtesy  ’ 
from  the 
lady,  and 
began  his 
physical 
education. 


The  '  squire  ’ 
especially 
served  his 
lord,  and 
attended  him 
at  the  tourna¬ 
ment  or  upon 
the  battle¬ 
field; 


During  this  stage  he  began  his  religious  education, 
learned  respect  and  politeness  toward  his  elders  and 
obedience  to  his  superiors,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
rugged  health  and  strength. 

After  this,  it  was  the  custom  with  the  gentry  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest  degree  to  place  the  boy  in  the 
castle  of  some  secular  lord  or  prominent  churchman,  to 
obtain  a  knightly  training  in  ‘courtesy.’1  Usually  the 
nobleman  chosen  was  his  father’s  feudal  superior,2 3 
although,  in  the  case  of  kings  and  great  feudal  princes, 
their  sons  were  occasionally  trained  at  their  own  palaces. 
The  boy  had  now  become  a  page?  and  took  his  place 
among  the  inferior  members  of  the  household.  The 
chief  part  of  his  training  came  through  the  performance 
of  personal  duties  for  his  lord  and  lady.  However,  he 
also  acquired  from  the  lady  the  etiquette  of  love  and 
honor,  and  learned  chess  and  other  games.  In  most 
cases,  too,  he  was  taught  to  play  the  harp  and  pipe,  and 
to  sing,  to  read  and  write,  and  to  compose  in  verse. 
Occasionally  he  was  given  some  knowledge  of  Latin, 
and,  in  England  during  the  later  period,  of  French. 
Outside  the  castle,  the  pages  were  trained  in  running, 
wrestling,  and  boxing,  and  those  who  had  them  in  charge 
were  further  commissioned  to  “lerne  them  to  ryde 
clenely  and  surely,  to  drawe  them  also  to  justes;  to 
lerne  them  were  their  harneys.”4  Such  training  for 
the  tournament  was  probably  obtained  by  tilting  at  the 
ring  or  a  dummy  man  known  as  the  ‘  quintain.’ 

At  fourteen  or  fifteen  the  youth  passed  to  the  grade 
of  squire .5 6  The  squires  of  the  house  waited  upon  the 
lady,  and  with  her  they  played  chess,  walked,  hunted, 

1I.e.,  curialitas,  or  breeding  at  the  curia  (‘court’). 

2  This  custom  would  seem  to  have  arisen  from  the  suzerain’s  originally 
taking  his  vassal’s  son  as  a  hostage  for  the  behavior  of  the  father. 

3 Page  (‘assistant  servant’)  was  a  late  term,  and  a  more  common 
designation  was  damoiseau  (‘  little  lord  ’)  or  valet  (‘  little  vassal’). 

4  Furnivall,  Forewords ,  ii,  on  Early  Education  in  England  in  The  Babees 

Book. 

6  Squire  is  a  contraction  of  esquire ,  which  comes  from  the  Old  French 
esquieri  a  development  from  the  Latin  scictarius  (‘  a  shield-bearer  ’). 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  FEUDALISM  AND  CHIVALRY  67 


and  hawked.  They  also  often  carved,  handed  around 
the  viands,  served  the  wine,  and  presented  water  for  the 
hands  of  the  guests.  But  their  chief  service  was  to  the 
knight.  They  not  only  made  their  lord’s  bed,  helped  him 
to  dress,  and  slept  near  him  at  night,  but  groomed  his 
horses  and  attended  him  upon  the  tournament  ground 
or  the  actual  battle-field.  Usually  the  honor  of  per¬ 
forming  the  martial  duties  fell  to  the  senior  squire,  who 
displayed  the  knight’s  banner,  kept  his  armor  and 
weapons  in  condition,  made  him  ready  for  the  fray,  and 
furnished  him  with  fresh  lances  or  protected  him  with 
the  shield  in  times  of  peril.  Thus  by  practice  the  squire 
learned  all  the  warlike  arts,  —  to  ride  and  handle  shield, 
spear,  and  armor,  and  to  joust  and  fight  with  the  sword 
or  battle-axe.  Toward  the  close  of  this  stage  of  his 
education  the  embryo  knight  also  chose  his  lady-love. 
She  was  usually  older  than  he  and  might  be  married 
or  not,  but  to  her  he  was  to  be  ever  devoted,  —  even 
after  he  married  some  one  else.  This  accounts  for  the 
squire’s  expertness  in  verse-writing  and  dancing,  as 
shown  in  Chaucer’s  description  of  him  :  — 

“He  could  songs  make,  and  well  endite, 

Just  and  eke  dance,  and  well  pourtraie  and  write ; 

So  hote  he  loved,  that  by  nighterdale  (night  time) 

He  slept  no  more  than  doth  the  nightingale.” 1 

Knighthood.  —  When  the  squire  became  twenty-one 
he  was  knighted.  The  final  ceremony  was  preceded 
by  many  religious  observances.  After  a  season  of  fast¬ 
ing,  purification,  and  prayer,  the  candidate  entered  the 
church  in  full  armor,  and  spent  a  night  in  vigil  and 
holy  meditation.2  In  the  morning  he  was  shriven,  and 
received  the  eucharist,  and  after  presenting  his  sword 
to  the  priest,  who  blessed  it  upon  the  altar,  he  took  a 
solemn  oath  “  to  defend  the  church,  to  attack  the  wicked, 
to  respect  the  priesthood,  to  protect  women  and  the 

1  This  is  given  as  in  the  partially  modernized  quotation  of  Mills. 

2  Sometimes  squires  were  knighted  upon  the  field  of  battle,  before  they 
were  of  age,  for  some  special  act  of  valor. 


he  also 
chose  his 
lady-love, 
and  learned 
to  write 
verses  and 
dance. 


At  twenty- 
one  the 
squire  was 
knighted 
with  special 
religious 
ceremonies. 


68 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Similarly, 
girls  were 
instructed  at 
the  castle  of 
some  lord  in 
domestic 
duties,  man¬ 
ners,  music, 
and  the  art 
of  conversa¬ 
tion. 


poor,  to  preserve  the  country  in  tranquillity,  and  to 
shed  his  blood,  even  to  its  last  drop,  in  behalf  of  his 
brethren.”  His  sword  was  then  returned  and  he  was 
charged  by  the  priest  “to  protect  the  widows  and 
orphans,  and  to  restore  and  preserve  the  desolate,  to 
revenge  the  wronged,  and  to  confirm  the  virtuous.”1 
By  so  doing,  it  was  promised,  he  would  obtain  everlast- 
ing  joy.  He  then  knelt  before  his  lord,  who  laid  his 
own  sword  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  candidate  and 
ordinarily  addressed  him  thus :  — 

“  In  the  name  of  God,  of  our  Lady,  of  thy  patron  Saint,  and  of 
St.  Michael  and  St.  George,  I  dub  thee  knight ;  be  brave,  bold,  and 
loyal.” 

Such  was  the  preparatory  training  and  the  inaugura¬ 
tion  into  knighthood.  It  can  easily  be  seen  that  this 
chivalric  education  contained  but  little  that  was  intel¬ 
lectual,  though  it  afforded  an  excellent  discipline  in  “  the 
rudiments  of  love,2  war,  and  religion.” 

Training  of  Women.  —  Girls  were  also  educated  during 
the  rdgime  of  chivalry  in  the  castle  of  some  knight  or 
lord.  Their  training  consisted  more  exclusively  in  per¬ 
sonal  service,  household  duties,  good  manners,  music, 
and  pleasing  conversation.  In  general,  there  was 
scarcely  any  intellectual  element  in  it,  save  learning  to 
say  their  prayers,  play  the  harp,  and  sing  various  poems, 
although  in  the  case  of  some  maidens  of  the  noblest 
birth,  a  little  study  of  language  and  literature  was  made, 
and  it  was  even  said  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick’s  daughter  : 

“  She  was  thereto  courteous,  and  free  and  wise, 

And  in  the  seven  arts  learned  withouten  miss.” 

These,  however,  must  have  been  exceptional  cases. 

The  Effects  of  Chivalric  Education.  —  This  chivalric 
training  of  the  Middle  Ages  contains  many  anomalies 

1  Mills,  Chivalry ,  pp.  48-54,  gives  a  complete  description  of  these 
inaugural  ceremonies.  A  little  different  account  is  given  by  Froissart  in 
the  knighting  of  William  IV,  emperor  of  Germany. 

2  ‘Love’  is  to  be  understood  not  only  in  the  sense  of  devotion  to  the 
opposite  sex  (par  amours ),  but  also  with  the  broader  meaning  of  kind¬ 
ness  and  courtesy. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  FEUDALISM  AND  CHIVALRY  69 


and  contradictions.  The  elements  in  the  mediaeval 
knight  were  curiously  mixed,  and  every  virtue  seems  to 
have  been  balanced  by  a  correlative  vice.  The  knights 
were  recklessly  courageous  in  battle,  but  their  anger, 
when  aroused,  was  ungovernable,  and  their  cruelty  was 
extreme.  There  are  several  instances  of  a  single  knight, 
in  a  crisis,  charging  headlong  upon  an  entire  army,  and 
there  are  many  records  of  the  most  brutal  slaughter  of 
prisoners.  Discretion,  self-control,  and  mercy  could  not 
have  been  among  the  knightly  virtues.  A  great  self- 
respect  and  a  disdain  for  petty  meannesses  were  also 
supposed  to  characterize  the  true  knight,  but  these  too 
often  reacted  into  an  overweening  pride  and  a  tenacious 
insistence  upon  his  own  rights.  The  feudal  claims  of 
his  inferiors  and  servants  were  scrupulously  observed 
by  every  knight,  but  the  persons  themselves  were  gen¬ 
erally  regarded  with  scorn  and  contempt.  There  was 
no  such  duty  as  courtesy  to  one’s  subjects,  and  the  most 
crying  fault  of  chivalry  was  the  tendency  to  regard  all 
inferiors  merely  as  ministers  to  one’s  pleasure.  So,  too, 
although  great  respect  for  womanhood  was  held  to  be 
essential  to  the  knightly  conduct,  if  the  women  were 
beneath  a  certain  rank,  no  such  consideration  was 
expected,  and  the  chivalrous  convention  was  quite 
compatible  with  the  laxest  conversation  and  morals. 
Moreover,  while  the  knights  were  rated  largely  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  ideas  of  liberality  and  hospitality,  the  result 
was  a  great  love  of  display  and  an  extravagance  beyond 
measure.  The  general  notion  of  ‘  liberality  ’  was  to 
have  a  vast  army  of  retainers  wearing  one’s  ‘  livery,’ 1 
and  to  excel  all  others  in  pomp  and  splendor.  The 
Earl  of  Cornwall  boasted  of  having  entertained  thirty 
thousand  guests,  and  even  after  a  most  liberal  allowance 
is  made  in  the  estimate,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  *  hospi¬ 
tality  ’  and  wastefulness  were  sometimes  synonymous. 

1  Livery  may  originally  have  had  reference  to  the  ‘  allowance  ’  {libera - 
tura  or  liberation)  of  cloth  or  rations  that  were  parcelled  out  to  every 
member  of  the  household.  See  Ransome,  History  of  England ’  p.  383; 
Stubbs,  Constitutional  History ,  III,  p.  547  and  note. 


This  anoma¬ 
lous  educa¬ 
tion  of  chiv¬ 
alry  produced 
courage  and 
cruelty,  self- 
respect  and 
pride,  respect 
for  women 
and  gross 
immorality, 
liberality  and 
extrava¬ 
gance,  honor 
and  bad 
faith. 


7  o 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Upon  the 
whole,  it 
refined  the 
times  and 
counteracted 
‘  otherworld¬ 
liness.’ 


No  wonder,  then,  that  Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  the 
very  type  of  late  chivalry,  should  frankly  admit  that  his 
‘  three  daughters  ’  were  pride,  rapacity,  and  luxury.  As 
for  the  knightly  word  of  honor,  so  much  vaunted,  it 
would,  if  accompanied  by  certain  forms,  be  held  sacred 
under  trying  circumstances,  but  should  these  forms  be 
omitted,  a  decided  breach  of  good  faith  was  not  infre¬ 
quent.  There  was  often  a  complete  disregard  for  the 
most  solemn  agreements.  Hence  it  was  that  William 
of  Normandy  seems  to  have  had  little  hope  of  holding 
King  Harold  to  his  promise,  except  for  the  holy  relics 
by  which  he  had  sworn. 

As  a  whole,  however,  the  chivalric  training  had  a 
beneficial  effect  upon  the  society  of  the  times.  It  was 
not  all  militarism,  parade,  convention,  and  deception. 
It  helped  to  organize  and  refine  the  turmoil  and  bar¬ 
barism  of  mediaeval  Europe,  and  was  an  effective  instru¬ 
ment  in  raising  the  position  of  women.  To  this  extent 
chivalry  was  a  healthful  discipline  for  mediaevalism. 
And  incidentally  there  flowed  from  it  a  happy  conse¬ 
quence.  While  this  peculiar  training  was  often  extrava¬ 
gant,  artificial,  and  ‘worldly,’  by  that  very  tendency  it 
did  much  to  counteract  the  ‘  otherworldly  ’  ideal  of  mo- 
nasticism  and  the  general  asceticism  of  the  period.  It 
encouraged  an  activity  in  earthly  affairs  and  a  frank 
enjoyment  of  this  life.  In  this  way  it  gave  rise  to  the 
first  distinctive  literature  since  Graeco-Roman  days. 
The  virile  narratives  of  the  heroic  age  and  the  beautiful 
lyrics  of  the  age  of  courtesy  alike  have  lasted  long  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  society  that  produced  them. 
Chivalry  itself  became  fixed  and  conventional,  but  it  had 
done  its  work  for  civilization. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  FEUDALISM  AND  CHIVALRY  7 1 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Cheyney,  E.  P.  Documents  Illustrative  of  Feudalism.  (  Transla¬ 
tions  and  Reprints ,  Vol.  IV,  No.  3.) 

Froissart,  J.  Chronicles  (translated  by  Bourchier  and  Berners). 
Furnivall,  F.  J.  (Editor).  The  Babees  Book  (including  The 
Book  of  Curteisie ,  Boke  of  Ntirture,  Boke  of  Kerynge ,  The 
Booke  of  Demeanor,  etc.). 

Malory,  T.  Morte  D'' Arthur. 

II.  Authorities 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chaps.  IX 
and  XI. 

Bulfinch,  T.  Age  of  Chivalry. 

Cornish,  F.  W.  Chivalry. 

Cutts,  E.  L.  Scenes  and  Characters  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
Knights,  Chaps.  IV,  VIII,  and  IX. 

Emerton,  E.  Bitroduction  to  the  Middle  Ages.  Chap.  XV. 
Furnivall,  F.  J.  Early  Education  in  England  (in  The  Babees 
Book ) . 

Gautier,  L.  Chivalry  (translated  by  H.  Frith). 

Guizot,  F.  The  History  of  Civilization.  Vol.  IV,  Lect.  6. 
Henderson,  E.  W.  A  Short  History  of  Germany .  Vol.  I,  Chap.  V. 
Lacroix,  P.  Military  and  Religious  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages . 

Feudalism,  The  Crusaders,  and  Chivalry. 

Martin,  H.  Hist oir e  de  France.  Vol.  III. 

Mills,  C.  The  History  of  Chivalry.  Vol.  I,  Chaps.  I-V,  and  Vol. 
II,  Chap.  VII. 

Round,  J.  H.  Feudal  England. 

Schulz,  A.  Das  Hofische  Leben  zur  Zeit  der  Minnesinger . 

Scott,  W.  Essay  on  Chivalry. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  OF  THE  FRIARS 


The  friars 
combated 
the  heretics 
that  had 
arisen  as  a 
protest  to 
ecclesiastical 
abuses. 


/ 


The  Purpose  of  the  Friars.  — A  large  contribution  to 
the  development  of  scholasticism  in  its  later  stages  was 
made  through  the  monastic  orders  known  as  the  mendi¬ 
cant  friars }  These  orders  did  not,  like  the  earlier 
monks,  spend  their  time  in  prayer  and  solitary  con¬ 
templation,  but  mingled  with  the  world.  They  en¬ 
deavored  to  combat  by  peaceful  methods  the  Albigenses 
and  Waldenses ,  two  groups  of  heretics  that  had  sprung 
up  in  the  twelfth  century  as  a  protest  against  the  shock¬ 
ing  abuses  in  the  Church.1 2  The  friars  made  it  their  busi¬ 
ness  to  wander  about  among  the  people,  living  on  char¬ 
ity,  to  set  an  example  of  piety  and  self-sacrifice,  defend 
and  propagate  the  orthodox  faith,  and  awaken  the  peo¬ 
ple  to  renewed  spirituality.  To  command  the  situation 
and  make  converts  among  all  classes,  they  obtained  an 
excellent  training  in  theology,  philosophy,  and  debating, 
and  strove  to  communicate  the  proper  education  to 
others.  With  this  purpose  in  view,  they  endeavored  to 
control  education  and  train  the  intellectual  leaders  of 
the  times. 

Their  Organization  and  Methods.  —  The  Franciscans ,  or 
‘gray  friars,’  were  originally  followers  of  Francesco 
Bernardone  of  Assisi,  who  had  abandoned  a  life  of  luxury 
to  minister  to  the  poor  and  sick.  The  Rule  of  St.  Fran¬ 
cis  commanded :  — 


1  Friar  is  derived  from  the  Latin  frater. 

2  This  seems  to  have  been  the  deliberate  purpose  of  Dominic  in  organ¬ 
izing  his  order.  He  was  a  Spanish  monk,  who  had  gone  with  his  bishop 
among  the  Albigenses  to  dissuade  them  from  their  heresies.  Francesco, 
however,  had  in  mind  only  an  imitation  of  Christ’s  life,  and  the  conver¬ 
sion  of  heretics  was  incidental  with  the  Franciscans. 

72 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  OF  THE  FRIARS 


73 


“  The  brothers  shall  appropriate  nothing  to  themselves,  neither  a 
house,  nor  a  place,  nor  anything ;  but  as  pilgrims  and  strangers  in 
this  world,  in  poverty  and  humility  serving  God,  they  shall  confi¬ 
dently  go  seeking  for  alms.” 

The  order  was  authorized  by  the  pope  in  1212.  The 
Dominicans ,  or  ‘black  friars,’  were  instituted  by  a  priest 
of  noble  birth  named  Dominic  de  Guzman,  and  in 
1217  the  pope  sanctioned  the  order.1  The  Domini¬ 
cans  were  carefully  trained  in  the  higher  studies,  and 
especially  sought  to  direct  the  policy  of  the  univer¬ 
sities  and  other  educational  institutions.  “  Hence,” 
says  Rashdall,  “the  headquarters  of  the  Dominicans  in 
Italy  were  fixed  at  Bologna,  in  France  at  Paris,  where  a 
colony  was  established  from  their  first  foundation  in 
1217:  in  England  their  first  convent  was  at  Oxford. 
These  central  houses  from  the  first  assumed  the  form  of 
Colleges :  and  a  Dominican  convent  ere  long  was  estab¬ 
lished  in  every  important  University  town.”  Thus  these 
friars  secured  members  with  the  highest  theological  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  age  and  eventually  obtained  a  large  share 
in  the  control  of  the  theological  teaching  of  the  uni¬ 
versities  everywhere.  They  stood  for  a  stanch  support 
of  all  Church  doctrines,  and  included  such  well-known 
schoolmen  as  Albertus  Magnus  and  his  even  greater 
pupil,  Thomas  Aquinas. 

The  Franciscans  tended  to  remain  more  democratic 
and  less  intellectual.  They  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
relief  and  training  of  the  poor  and  needy,  but  while  some 
did  not  believe  in  the  higher  learning,  they,  too,  soon 
found  it  necessary  to  make  converts  at  the  universities 
and  have  their  members  given  a  training  in  theology. 
In  1230,  the  Franciscans  first  founded  a  convent  at 
Paris  and  before  long  they  became  almost  as  active 
intellectually  as  the  Dominicans.  Many  Franciscans 
were  well  educated,  and  among  the  members  of  the  order 
were  such  distinguished  scholastics  as  Alexander  of 
Hales,  Bonaventura,Duns  Scotus,  and  William  of  Occam. 

1  A  good  brief  account  of  the  rise  of  the  friars  can  be  found  in  Wishart’s 
Monks  and  Monasteries ,  Chap.  V. 


The 

Dominicans 
especially 
sought  to 
control 
education. 
While  the 
Francis¬ 
cans  tended 
to  remain 
more  demo¬ 
cratic  and 
less  intellec¬ 
tual,  yet  they 
found  it 
necessary  to 
make  con¬ 
verts  at  the 
universities 
and  to  have 
their  mem¬ 
bers  trained 
in  theology. 


74 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


N  everthe- 
less,  the 
defense  of 
orthodoxy 
remained  the 
main  pur¬ 
pose  of  the 
Dominicans, 
and  social 
and  theo¬ 
logical  ad¬ 
vancement 
that  of  the 
Franciscans. 
The  rivalry 
between  the 
two  orders 
tended  to 
arouse  dis¬ 
cussion  and 
disrupt  au¬ 
thority. 


Rashdall  also  tells  us:  — 

“  Other  mendicant  orders  —  Carmelites,  Austin  Friars,  and  others 
of  less  importance  —  likewise  established  convents  at  Paris  and  sent 
novices  to  the  Theological  Schools,  but  they  played  a  comparatively 
small  part  in  the  life  of  the  University.” 

Their  Influence  upon  Education  and  Progress.  —  Hence 
the  friars  did  much  for  education.  They  gave  their 
members  a  far  broader  training  than  monks  generally 
received  and  among  them  were  found  many  intellectual 
and  educational  leaders.  They  also  instructed  the  peo¬ 
ple  both  informally  in  virtue  and  doctrine,  and  through 
their  control  of  the  universities  and  other  institutions. 
While  the  origin  and  aim  of  the  two  great  orders  were 
so  similar,  each  has  been  stamped  with  the  personality 
and  genius  of  its  founder.  The  defense  of  orthodoxy  re¬ 
mained  the  main  purpose  of  the  Dominicans,  and  preser¬ 
vation  of  the  lines  laid  down  by  their  early  masters  is 
apparent  in  all  their  later  philosophy  and  teaching.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Franciscans  have  ever  been  the 
authors  of  new  social,  philosophical,  and  theological 
movements.  While  at  first  they  were  united  in  their 
efforts,  a  rivalry  soon  sprang  up  between  the  two 
organizations,  which  is  reflected  in  the  controversy  of 
Duns  and  Occam  with  the  followers  of  Aquinas.1  But 
this  opposition  in  theology  and  philosophy  was  a  health¬ 
ful  thing  for  the  times,  since  it  tended  to  arouse  discus¬ 
sion  and  break  up  all  settled  authority.  It  has  even 
been  declared  that  “  the  intellectual  history  of  Europe 
for  the  next  two  hundred  years  is  intimately  bound  up 
with  the  divergent  theological  tendencies  of  the  two 
great  Orders  of  S.  Dominic  and  S.  Francis.”  More¬ 
over,  when  orders  of  such  standing  as  the  two  sets  of 
friars  were  often  accused  of  heresy  by  each  other,  the 
common  man  could  not  well  be  blamed  for  following 
the  dictates  of  reason  and  refusing  to  conform  to  eccle¬ 
siastical  dogma  in  every  detail. 

1  See  p.  55. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  OF  THE  FRIARS 


75 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Henderson,  E.  F.  Historical  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages . 
Bk.  Ill,  No.  VIII. 


II.  Authorities 

Cutts,  E.  L.  Scenes  and  Characters  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
Monks ,  Chap.  V. 

Drane,  A.  T.  History  of  St.  Dommic. 

Draper,  J.  W.  I?itellectual  Development  of  Europe .  Vol.  II, 
Chap.  II. 

Jessopp,  A.  The  Coming  of  the  Friars. 

Little,  A.  G.  Educational  Organization  of  the  Mendicant  Friars 
in  England  {Royal  Historical  Society ,  New  Series,  Vol.  VIII). 
Little,  A.  G.  The  Grey  Friars  in  Oxford  ( Oxford  Historical  So - 
ciety,  Vol.  XX). 

Macdonell,  A.  The  Sons  of  St.  Francis. 

Milman,  H.  H.  History  of  Latin  Christianity.  Bk.  IX,  Chaps. 
IX  and  X. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  The  University  of  Cambridge.  Chaps.  I,  III, 
and  V. 

Oliphant,  Mrs.  M.  O.  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi. 

Rashdall,  H.  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Vol. 

I,  pp.  251-253  and  362-392,  and  Vol.  II,  pp.  376-386. 
Sabatier,  P.  Life  of  St.  Francis. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


Universities 
were  in  gen¬ 
eral  a  prod¬ 
uct  of  all 
that  was  best 
in  the  Middle 
Ages,  but  no 
two  sprang 
from  exactly 
the  same 
causes. 


General  Causes  of  the  Rise  of  Universities.  —  In  dis¬ 
cussing  scholasticism  and  the  friars,  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  anticipate  a  description  of  the  mediaeval 
universities.  These  were  the  product  of  what  was 
highest  and  best  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  their  growth 
is  necessarily  bound  up  with  all  the  history  and  con¬ 
tributions  of  the  times.  The  development  of  universi¬ 
ties  is  intimately  connected  with  that  of  the  Empire, 
the  Church  and  papacy,  the  older  schools,  and  many 
other  institutions  of  mediaeval  days.  They  arose  from 
the  old  cathedral  and  monastic  schools,  and  were  brought 
into  prominence  through  the  broadening  influences  of 
the  later  Middle  Ages.  The  contact  with  Arabic  science 
and  culture  and  Greek  philosophy  through  the  Crusades 
and  the  Moors  in  Spain,  the  interest  in  dialectic  and 
theological  discussions,  with  its  development  of  scholas¬ 
ticism,  the  wider  horizon  produced  through  a  knowledge 
of  the  Orient  and  of  different  customs  and  traditions, 
the  reaction  from  ‘  otherworldliness  ’  resulting  from  the 
ideals  of  chivalry  and  the  growth  of  cities  and  wealth, 
the  consequent  emphasis  upon  secular  interests  and 
knowledge,  all  played  a  part  in  creating  the  intellectual 
atmosphere  that  was  necessary  for  the  growth  of  these 
organizations.  The  mediaeval  scholars  eagerly  scanned 
the  liberal  and  professional  courses  of  the  Moorish 
colleges  at  Cordova,  Granada,  Seville,  and  Alexandria, 
and  new  groups  of  studies,  broader  methods,  and,  above 
all,  great  teachers,  began  rapidly  to  appear.  Students 
crowded  to  the  seats  of  learning  at  the  old  schools,  and 
before  long  these  institutions  had  come  to  be  known  as 
‘  universities.’ 


76 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


77 


The  History  and  Purpose  of  the  Universities.  —  Such 
were  the  general  factors  in  the  evolution  of  all  the 
mediaeval  universities,  but  while  all  were  more  or  less 
the  product  of  the  influences  named,  no  two  sprang 
from  exactly  the  same  set  of  causes. 

The  oldest  of  the  universities  was  that  at  Salerno , 
near  Naples.  This  organization  seems  to  have  been 
simply  a  school  of  medicine,  and  Rashdall  attributes  its 
origin  primarily  to  the  survival  of  the  old  Greek  medical 
works  in  this  part  of  the  peninsula.1  While  other  cities 
of  southwestern  Italy  were  interested  in  medicine,  Salerno 
in  particular  became  the  center  of  medical  study  because 
of  its  reputation  as  a  health  resort,  gained  chiefly  from 
its  mild  climate,  but  partly  also  from  the  mineral  springs 
there.  Greek  medical  writings  were  translated  into 
Latin  by  the  sixth  century,  and  from  the  early  part  of 
the  eleventh  century  Salerno  seems  itself  to  have  been 
productive  of  medical  works.  By  the  middle  of  the 
century  the  revival  of  medicine  was  well  under  way  and 
Salerno  was  known  as  the  leading  place  for  medical 
study.  A  great  impulse  was  given  the  school  by  a  con¬ 
verted  Jew  called  Constantinus  Africanus ,  who  had 
wandered  through  India,  Babylonia,  and  Egypt,  and 
everywhere  studied  medicine.  He  had  fled  to  Salerno 
from  Carthage,  and  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eleventh 
century  compiled  and  translated  Hippocrates  and  va¬ 
rious  other  Greek  and  Arabic  authorities  on  medicine. 
Salerno  was  further  assisted  by  the  visit  of  Robert, 
Duke  of  Normandy,  who  came  there  in  1099,  after  the 
first  Crusade,  to  be  cured  of  a  wound,  and,  with  his 
returning  knights,  spread  the  fame  of  the  school  to  all 
parts  of  Europe.  Salerno,  however,  was  never  chartered 
as  a  regular  university,  and  it  was  not  until  1231  that  it 
received  any  official  recognition.  Frederick  II  at  that 
time  gave  it  the  monopoly  for  medical  training  in  his 
realms  in  place  of  the  school  of  medicine  at  the  Uni- 

1  Laurie  and  Mullinger  give  more  prominence  to  the  influence  of  the 
Saracen  medical  writers  than  does  Rashdall,  who  bases  his  conclusions 
upon  Daremberg  and  Renzi,  the  authorities  on  the  history  of  medicine. 


Salerno  early 
became  the 
seat  of  a 
medical 
school,  be¬ 
cause  of  the 
survival  of 
the  old  Greek 
medical 
works,  the 
salubrity  of 
the  place, 
and  the 
work  of  Con¬ 
stantinus, 


but  it  was 
never  char¬ 
tered  as  a 
regular  uni¬ 
versity,  and 
did  not 
become 
a  model  for 
other  uni¬ 
versities. 


78 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Bologna 
became 
famous  as 
a  school  of 
civil  law 
through  the 
struggle  of 
the  north 
Italian  cities 
for  inde¬ 
pendence 
and  through 
the  lectures 
of  Irnerius, 


versity  of  Naples,  which  he  had  created  some  seven 
years  earlier.  But  this  organization  never  became,  like 
Bologna  and  Paris,  a  model  for  the  foundation  of  later 
universities.  It  is,  therefore,  of  less  consequence  in  the 
development  of  universities,  and  by  the  fourteenth  cen¬ 
tury  it  had  met  with  a  permanent  decline. 

The  interest  of  southern  Italy  in  medicine  was  paral¬ 
leled  by  the  attention  to  Roman  law  in  the  north  of 
the  peninsula.  Amid  all  the  changes  that  had  come 
from  the  various  conquests  by  Goths,  Lombards,  and 
Franks,  the  cities  of  northern  Italy  had  never  alto¬ 
gether  lost  their  independence.  This  was  especially 
true  of  the  Lombard  cities,  which  in  the  end  expelled 
the  counts  or  bishops  that  had  for  a  time  attempted  to 
rule  them,  and  even  prevented  the  German  emperors 
from  ever  making  their  nominal  sway  over  them  a  real 
one.  In  undertaking  to  defend  their  independence, 
these  cities  made  an  especial  study  of  Roman  Law,  in 
order  to  present  some  special  charter,  grant,  or  edict 
from  the  old  Roman  emperors  upon  which  their  claims 
might  be  founded.  A  knowledge  of  the  Roman  civil 
law  had  never  altogether  died  out  in  northern  Italy, 
but  this  struggle  for  independence  caused  an  enthu¬ 
siastic  revival  of  the  study.1  There  were  several  centers 
renowned  for  their  pursuit  of  this  subject,  but  early  in 
the  twelfth  century  Bologna  became  preeminent.  This 
city,  which  had  hitherto  been  known  for  its  school  of 
liberal  arts,  was  now  made  famous  by  the  lectures  upon 
law  of  one  Irnerius.  For  the  first  time  the  entire 
Corpus  Juris  Civilis  (‘  Body  of  Civil  Law  ’),  a  compila¬ 
tion  of  Roman  law  made  by  eminent  jurists  in  the  sixth 
century  by  order  of  the  emperor  Justinian,  was  collected 
and  critically  discussed.  This  expansion  of  the  subject 
required  the  separation  of  civil  law  from  rhetoric,  of 
which  it  had  previously  been  a  branch,  and  forced  stu- 

1  The  former  conclusion  that  the  study  of  Roman  jurisprudence  was 
caused  by  the  discovery  of  the  Pandects  of  Justinian  through  the  capture 
of  Amalfi  by  Pisa  in  1135  has  since  1831  been  shown  by  Savigny  to  be 
out  of  keeping  with  the  natural  evolution  of  events. 


THE  MEDIEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


79 


dents  who  would  study  it  to  give  it  their  entire  atten¬ 
tion.  The  law  students  thus  became  differentiated  from 
those  in  liberal  arts,  and  Bologna  came  to  be  known  as 
a  great  school  of  civil  law. 

But  this  city  was  destined  to  become  also  the  seat 
of  the  study  of  canon  law.  Influenced  by  the  scientific 
treatment  of  the  Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  a  monk  of  Bologna, 
named  Gratian ,  was  impelled  to  furnish  the  Church 
with  a  code  no  less  systematic  and  complete.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  he  undertook  in  1142  to  harmonize  all  edicts, 
legislation,  and  statements  of  popes,  councils,  Church 
fathers,  and  Christian  emperors  in  a  convenient  text¬ 
book  upon  canon  law.  This  work,  known  as  the 
Decretum  Gratiani  (‘  The  Decree  of  Gratian  y  was 
organized  after  the  plan  of  Abelard’s  Sic  et  Non ,  and 
gave  the  authorities  upon  both  sides  of  each  mooted 
point  in  ecclesiastical  law.  It  was  almost  immediately 
recognized  as  the  authority  upon  the  subject,  and  Gra¬ 
tian  became  nearly  as  important  in  the  development  of 
Bologna  and  other  universities  as  Irnerius.  Canon  law 
was  made  a  separate  study  from  theology,  of  which  it 
had  previously  been  a  part,  and  attracted  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  students. 

Thus  the  school  at  Bologna  was  greatly  enlarged  in 
its  work,  and  was  chartered  as  a  university  by  Frederick 
Barbarossa  in  1158,  probably  as  a  recognition  of  the 
services  of  its  masters  in  support  of  his  imperial  claims. 
By  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  its  fame 
had  become  widespread,  and  it  is  estimated  that  there 
were  about  five  thousand  students  in  attendance.1 2 
There  had  been  a  course  in  liberal  arts  for  a  long  time 
at  Bologna,  and,  besides  the  civil  and  canon  law,  medi¬ 
cine  was  added  in  1316,  and  theology  in  1360,  although 
these  subjects  never  became  very  prominent. 

1  After  various  additions  had  been  made,  it  was  generally  known  in  the 
fifteenth  century  as  Corpus  Juris  Canonici. 

2  Odofredus,  the  jurist,  states  that  there  were  ten  thousand  students, 
but  Rashdall  holds  that  an  allowance  of  at  least  one  half  must  be  made 
for  the  mediaeval  tendency  to  exaggerate. 


and  as  a 
school  of 
canon  law 
through  the 
Decretum 
of  Gratian. 


In  1158  it 
was  char¬ 
tered  as  a 
university  by 
Frederick 
Barbarossa, 
and  other 
courses  were 
eventually 
added. 


8o 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Univer¬ 
sity  of  Paris 
grew  out  of 
the  cathedral 
school  of 
Notre  Dame, 
especially 
when  under 
Abelard, 


and  was  first 
chartered  by 
Louis  VII 
in  1180. 


The  development  of  the  universities  in  France  and 
England  is  not  as  easy  to  trace  as  in  Italy,  but  they 
seem  to  have  been  more  directly  the  product  of  the 
special  interest  in  dialectic  and  scholasticism  that  ap¬ 
peared  in  this  part  of  Europe.  Of  all  the  organizations 
north  of  the  Alps  the  first  foundation  was  that  at  Paris , 
which  was  by  far  the  most  famous  of  all  mediaeval 
universities.  This  university  grew  out  of  the  cathedral 
school  of  Notre  Dame,  which  had  acquired  considerable 
reputation  by  the  earliest  part  of  the  twelfth  century 
under  the  headship  of  William  of  Champeanx.  But  the 
intellectual  movement  was  more  largely  developed  by 
the  brilliant  and  attractive  Abelard}  who  taught  in  Paris 
at  various  periods  between  1108  and  1139.  While  well 
under  thirty,  Abelard  had  defeated  both  his  chief  masters, 
Roscellinus,  the  nominalist,  and  William  of  Champeaux, 
who  was  an  extreme  realist.  In  1117  he  succeeded  to 
the  position  from  which  he  had  driven  William  in 
humiliation,  and,  through  his  eloquence,  versatility, 
tact,  and  great  intellectual  endowment,  drew  thousands 
of  students  to  Paris  from  all  nations.  McCabe  estimates 
“  that  a  pope,  nineteen  cardinals,  and  more  than  fifty 
bishops  and  archbishops  were  at  one  time  among  his 
pupils.”  He  lectured  especially  upon  dialectic  and 
theology,  and  greatly  stimulated  free  discussion  and 
the  liberation  of  reason.  His  successor  was  his  pupil, 
Peter  the  Lombardy  who  became  the  author  of  the  great 
mediaeval  textbook  upon  theology  entitled  Sententice. 

Thus  Abelard  became  the  progenitor  of  the  university, 
although  it  was  not  until  almost  a  generation  after  his 
death  that  it  could  really  have  been  organized.  It  was 
first  formally  recognized  by  the  king,  Louis  VII,  in 
1180,  and  eighteen  years  later  it  had  its  privileges  sub¬ 
stantially  increased  by  Pope  Celestine  III,  but  it  was 
only  in  1200,  after  canon  law  and  medicine  had  been 
added  to  the  liberal  arts  and  theology,  that  it  received 
complete  recognition  by  the  act  of  Philip  Augustus. 


1  See  pp.  53  f. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


8 1 


As  we  have  seen,  Salerno  failed  to  reproduce  its  type, 
but  Bologna,  and  even  more  Paris,  became  the  mother 
of  universities,  for  many  other  institutions  were  organ¬ 
ized  after  their  general  plans.  At  Bologna  the  students, 
who  were  usually  mature  men,  and,  as  a  result  of  their 
political  environment,  very  independent,  had  entire 
charge  of  the  government  of  the  university.  They 
selected  the  masters  and  determined  the  fees,  length 
of  term,  and  time  of  beginning.  But  in  Paris,  where 
the  students  were  younger,  the  government  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  masters.  Consequently,  new  foundations 
in  the  North,  where  Paris  was  the  type,  usually  became 
‘  master-universities,’  while  those  of  the  South  were 
‘  student-universities.’  The  universities  that  arose  in 
Italy,  France  (with  the  exception  of  Paris),  Spain,  and 
Portugal,  were  patterned  after  Bologna,  and  those  which 
grew  up  in  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  Sweden,  and 
Denmark,  followed  Paris.  But  besides  the  universities 
that  grew  gradually,  or  sprang  up  rapidly  as  a  result  of 
migration  from  other  organizations,  sovereigns  or  eccle¬ 
siastics  not  infrequently  started  new  institutions  full- 
fledged,  in  order  to  produce  more  lawyers  and  other 
learned  men  or  to  propagate  the  Catholic  faith. 

Thus  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries 
it  became  fashionable  for  the  authorities,  civil  and 
ecclesiastical,  to  charter  existing  organizations  or  to 
found  new  ones.  In  England,  Oxford  began  in  the 
second  half  of  the  twelfth,  and  Cambridge  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  although  their  first 
recognition  by  charter  cannot  easily  be  ascertained. 
Of  the  Italian  universities,  Naples  was,  as  we  have 
noted,  established  by  imperial  decree  in  1224,  Padua 
arose  two  years  earlier  through  emigration  from  Bologna, 
and  Arezzo  grew  up  about  the  same  time,  although  not 
recognized  until  1355.  The  universities  of  Palencia, 
Salamanca,  and  Valladolid  in  Spain  and  that  of  Lisbon 
in  Portugal  were  also  founded  during  the  thirteenth 
century.  The  next  foundation  in  France  after  Paris 
was  that  made  by  Pope  Gregory  IX  at  Toulouse  in 


Bologna,  the 
‘  student- 
university,’ 
became  the 
pattern  for 
numerous 
universities 
in  the  South; 
and  Paris, 
the  ‘  master- 
university,’ 
for  those  in 
the  North. 


During  the 

thirteenth 

and 

fourteenth 
centuries, 
universities 
sprang  up 
throughout 
Europe,  and 
by  the 
Renaissance 
there  were  at 
least  seventy- 
nine  of  them. 


82 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


1233,  and  this  was  followed  by  Montpellier  later  in  the 
century  and  by  a  number  of  others  during  the  next 
century.  The  first  German  university,  that  of  Prague, 
was  not  instituted  until  1348,  but,  before  the  close  of 
the  century,  Vienna,  Erfurt,  Heidelberg,  and  Cologne 
had  sprung  up,  and  twice  as  many  more  appeared  within 
the  next  hundred  years.  By  the  time  the  Renaissance 
was  well  started,  at  least  seventy-nine1  universities  were 
in  existence  in  the  different  countries  of  Europe.  All 
of  these  foundations  were  not  permanent,  however,  for 
some  thirty  have,  in  the  course  of  time,  become  extinct, 
and  those  which  remain  are  much  changed  in  character 
and  course.  Naturally  enough  from  their  origin,  all  the 
universities  came  to  be  located,  not  like  the  old  monas¬ 
teries  in  remote  places,  but  in  the  centers  of  population. 
Sovereigns  Privileges  Granted  to  Universities.  —  From  the  time  of 
grantedPeS  ear^iest  official  recognition  of  the  universities,  a  large 

manyprivi-  variety  of  exemptions,  immunities,  and  other  special 
universities  privileges  were  conferred  upon  the  organizations,  or 
such  as  direct  upon  their  masters  and  students,  by  popes,  emperors, 
andspecial  kings,  feudal  lords,  and  municipalities.  The  universities 
courts,  were  in  many  instances  taken  under  the  immediate  pro¬ 
tection  of  the  sovereign,  and  were  allowed  to  have  special 
courts  of  their  own,  independent  of  civil  jurisdiction,  and 
complete  autonomy  in  all  their  internal  affairs.  Both 
these  privileges  are  granted  in  the  document  known  as 
the  Habita 2  of  Frederick  I,  or  ‘Barbarossa/  This 
emperor,  in  1158,  for  the  benefit  of  the  students  of 
Bologna,  issued  the  following  general  edict :  — 

u  We,  from  our  piety,  have  granted  these  privileges  to  all  scholars 
who  travel  for  the  sake  of  study,  and  especially  to  the  professors  of 
divine  and  sacred  laws ;  namely,  that  they  may  go  in  safety  to  the 
places  in  which  the  studies  are  carried  on,  both  they  themselves  and 
their  messengers,  and  may  dwell  there  in  security.  For  we  think 
it  fitting  that,  during  good  behavior,  those  should  enjoy  our  approval 

1  There  may  have  been  others,  of  which  the  records  have  disappeared. 

2  Habita  is  the  first  word  in  the  charter.  The  document  is  sometimes 
called  the  Authentic  Habita ,  since  it  was  placed  by  Pertz  among  the 
authentica  or  originalia  instrum  enta. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


83 


and  protection,  who,  by  their  learning,  enlighten  the  world,  and 
mold  the  life  of  our  subjects  to  the  obedience  of  God,  and  of  us, 
his  minister.  .  .  .  Therefore,  we  declare  by  this  general  and  per¬ 
petual  law  that  hereafter  no  one  shall  be  so  rash  as  to  inflict  any 
injury  on  scholars,  or  to  impose  any  fine  upon  them  on  account  of 
an  offense  committed  in  their  former  province.  And  let  it  be  known 
to  violators  of  this  decree,  and  to  local  rulers  at  the  time  who  have 
neglected  to  punish  such  violations,  that  a  fourfold  restitution  of 
property  shall  be  exacted  from  all  who  are  guilty,  and  that  the 
brand  of  infamy  shall  be  affixed  to  them  by  the  law,  and  they  shall 
be  forever  deprived  of  their  offices. 

“  Moreover,  if  any  one  shall  presume  to  bring  a  suit  against  the 
scholars  on  any  ground,  the  choice  in  the  matter  shall  be  given  to 
the  scholars,  who  may  summon  the  accusers  to  appear  before  their 
professors  or  the  bishop  of  the  city,  to  whom  we  have  given  juris¬ 
diction  in  these  circumstances.  But  if,  indeed,  the  accuser  shall 
attempt  to  take  the  scholar  before  another  judge,  even  if  his  cause 
be  most  just,  he  shall  lose  his  suit  because  of  such  attempt.” 

The  provisions  of  the  Habita  were  repeated  for  vari¬ 
ous  universities  by  other  monarchs.  Perhaps  the  most 
sweeping  protection  and  immunity  were  contained  in  the 
edict  of  Philip  Augustus,  by  which  all  citizens  of  Paris 
who  saw  any  one  striking  a  student  were  required  to  seize 
the  offender  and  deliver  him  to  the  judge,  and  the 
provost  of  the  city  and  all  judges  were  commanded  to 
hand  over  the  cases  of  the  student  criminals  to  the 
ecclesiastical  authority. 

These  privileges  seem  to  have  been  suggested  in  the 
first  place  by  provisions  made  by  the  Roman  emperors 
for  students  in  the  old  universities.  Similarly,  there 
were  conferred  upon  masters  and  students  other  general 
privileges  with  which  the  emperors  had  favored  the 
philosophers,  rhetoricians,  and  grammarians  of  the  pagan 
schools.1  Persons  connected  with  the  mediaeval  uni¬ 
versities  were  relieved  from  all  taxation,  and,  except  in 
times  of  emergency,  from  military  service.  Rupert  I, 
in  founding  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  makes  the 
following  grant  to  masters  and  students :  — 

u  When  they  come  to  the  said  institution,  while  they  remain  there, 
and  also  when  they  return  from  it  to  their  homes,  they  may  freely 

1  See  Graves,  A  History  of  Education  before  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  265- 
266. 


exemption 

from 

taxation, 


84 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


carry  with  them,  throughout  all  the  lands  subject  to  us,  all  things 
which  they  need  while  pursuing  their  studies,  and  all  the  goods 
necessary  for  their  support,  without  any  duty,  levy,  imposts,  tolls, 
excises,  or  other  exactions,  whatever.” 


the  right  ’ 
to  license 
masters,  and 
the  right  to 
suspend 
lectures  and 
migrate. 


Similarly,  before  this,  teachers  and  scholars  were 
declared  at  Paris  to  be  exempt  from  “  talliaj  customs, 
and  personal  taxes,  in  coming  or  going,”  and  the  charter 
of  Leipzig  in  the  next  century  relieved  the  property  of 
that  organization  of  “all  losunge }  exactions,  contribu¬ 
tions,  steam }  and  taxes,  and  from  the  control  of  the 
citizens.”  These  exemptions  applied  not  only  to  the 
corporation,  students,  and  masters,  but  often  to  the  bell¬ 
ringers,  booksellers,  bookbinders,  parchment  makers, 
illuminators,  messengers,  and  others  serving  in  a  more 
or  less  menial  capacity. 

The  universities  had  also  certain  recognized  privileges 
that  had  originated  as  customs  with  the  early  universi¬ 
ties,  but  were  specially  granted  by  the  civil  or  ecclesi¬ 
astical  authorities  as  a  formality  to  institutions  already 
exercising  these  rights,  or  to  new  universities  that  wished 
to  be  on  a  par  with  them.  Such  was  the  jus  iibique  do- 
cejidi,  or  the  right  of  a  university  to  license  masters  to 
lecture  anywhere  without  further  examination,  and  the 
cessatio ,  or  privilege  of  suspending  lectures,  when  uni¬ 
versity  rights  were  infringed.  In  the  latter  case,  unless 
the  wrongs  were  immediately  redressed,  the  suspension 
was  followed  by  an  emigration  of  the  university  to 
another  town.  This  could  easily  be  done  in  mediaeval 
days  when  universities  did  not  have  any  buildings  of 
their  own  and  there  was  no  need  of  expensive  libraries, 
laboratories,  and  other  equipment.  So,  in  1209,  Cam¬ 
bridge  got  its  first  real  start  through  an  exodus  from 
Oxford.  Sometimes  a  special  invitation  would  be  issued 
to  a  university  exercising  the  cessatio  to  come  to  another 
country.  Thus  the  University  of  Oxford  in  1229  met 

1  Taxes  whose  purpose  is  not  exactly  known.  From  tallia  probably  the 
feudal  taille  was  developed,  and  from  steura  the  Modern  German  Steuer 
must  be  derived.  See  Ducange,  Glossarium  Media  et  Infimce  Latinitatis. 
The  piling  up  of  synonyms  with  little  or  no  distinction  seems  to  be  com¬ 
mon  in  legal  documents  at  all  ages. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


85 


with  its  most  substantial  increase  through  King  Henry 
III,  who  promised  the  striking  masters  and  scholars  of 
Paris  — 

“  If  it  shall  be  your  pleasure  to  transfer  yourselves  to  our  kingdom 
of  England  and  to  remain  there  to  study,  we  will  for  this  purpose 
assign  to  you  cities,  boroughs,  towns,  whatsoever  you  may  wish  to 
select,  and  in  every  fitting  way  will  cause  you  to  rejoice  in  a  state  of 
liberty  and  tranquillity.”  1 

There  were,  of  course,  a  number  of  less  important 
privileges  that  were  peculiar  to  the  various  localities, 
but  those  mentioned  were  generally  held  by  all  the 
universities.  Through  such  special  rights  the  univer¬ 
sities  obtained  a  great  power  and  became  very  independ¬ 
ent.  Soon  the  liberty  allowed  to  students  degenerated 
into  recklessness  and  license.  The  students  seemed  to 
have  become  dissipated  and  quarrelsome.  Clashes  were 
common  not  only  with  the  townspeople,  but  even  among 
themselves.  Each  nation  was  at  times  unsparing  in  its 
abuse  of  the  others.  We  are  informed,  for  instance, 
through  the  mutual  recriminations  of  the  students  at 
Paris,  that  there  were  among  them  many  drunkards, 
spendthrifts,  fops,  gluttons,  bullies,  roues,  and  adven¬ 
turers.2  After  all  allowance  is  made  for  the  prejudice 
and  exaggeration  of  the  various  nations,  it  is  evident 
that  the  students  had  to  some  extent  become  uncleanly, 
bad-mannered,  and  immoral.  This  is  especially  seen  in 
the  life  of  the  so-called  wandering  stude7its.  This  class 
arose  from  the  freer  life  consequent  upon  the  decline  of 
monasticism  and  from  the  sanctioning  of  migratory  habits 
by  the  example  of  the  friars.  Like  these  orders,  the 
students  begged  their  way,  as  they  wandered  from  uni¬ 
versity  to  university.  They  became  rollicking,  indolent, 
shiftless,  and  even  vicious,  and  many  found  the  life  so 
attractive  that  they  made  it  permanent  and  organized  a 

1  The  full  text  is  translated  in  Norton’s  Readings  on  Mediceval  Uni¬ 
versities,  pp.  95-96.  See  also  Rashdall,  Universities  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  392  and  546. 

2  See  the  description  in  Jacques  de  Vitry’s  Historia  Occidentalis,  Lib. 
II,  c.  7,  translated  in  Munro,  Translations  and  Reprints,  Vol.  II,  No.  3. 


These  privi¬ 
leges  led  to 
license,  espe¬ 
cially  in  the 
case  of  the 
‘  wandering 
students.’ 


86 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


mock  ‘order’  or  gild  of  wandering  students  known  as 
Goliardi 1  or  vagantes .2  The  one  compensating  feature 
of  this  degeneracy  was  the  production  of  jovial  Latin 
and  German  songs  to  voice  their  frank  appreciation  of 
forbidden  pleasures,  and  their  protest  against  restraint 
and  the  formalism  and  corruption  of  the  Church.  Vari¬ 
ous  collections  of  these  songs  have  come  down  to  us.3 
The  following  translation  of  the  Song  of  the  Open  Road , 
in  which  every  couplet  was  followed  by  an  imitation  of 
a  bugle  call,  will  afford  some  idea  of  the  recklessness  and 
exuberance  of  this  vagabond  student  life  :  — 

“  We  in  our  wandering, 

Blithesome  and  squandering, 

Eat  to  satiety, 

Drink  to  propriety ; 

Laugh  till  our  sides  we  split, 

Rags  on  our  hides  we  fit ; 

Craft’s  in  the  bone  of  us, 

Fear  ’tis  unknown  of  us ; 

Brother  catholical, 

Man  apostolical, 

Say  what  you  will  have  done, 

What  you  ask  ’twill  be  done ! 

Folk,  fear  the  toss  of  the 
Horns  of  philosophy  ! 

Here  comes  a  quadruple,4 
Spoiler  and  prodigal  ! 

As  the  Pope  bade  us  do, 

Brother  to  brother’s  true  : 

Brother,  best  friend  adieu! 

Now  I  must  part  from  you  ! 

Tara,  tantara,  teino  ! 

‘University*  Organization  of  the  Universities.  —  From  its  historical 
signified^  origin  the  nature  of  the  mediaeval  university  was  similar 

company  1  The  word  is  probably  derived  from  the  French  gaillard  (‘gay’). 

The  similarity  of  the  term  to  Golias  (‘Goliath  ’)  seems  to  have  suggested 
their  taking  him  as  a  patron  saint. 

2  In  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century  there  grew  up  a  type  of 
younger  wandering  students  known  as  scholares  vagantes ,  who  learned  the 
elements  from  wandering  masters  in  search  of  a  school.  They  were  also 
sometimes  accompanied  by  still  younger  boys,  known  as  ABC  shooters . 

3  See  especially  Symonds,  Wine ,  Women ,  and  Song,  or  the  reprints  in 
Mosher,  Mediceval  Latin  Students'  Songs. 

4  The  quadrivium,  of  which  they  thus  bid  honest  people  beware. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


87 


to  that  of  the  gilds.  This  is  shown  in  its  complete 
name,  —  Universitas  Magistrorum  et  Scholarium  (‘  the 
body  of  masters  and  scholars  ’).  The  term  universitas 
did  not  imply  originally,  as  often  claimed  since,  an  insti¬ 
tution  where  ‘  everything  ’  is  taught,  but  it  was  used  of 
any  legal  corporation,  and  only  in  the  lapse  of  time 
was  it  limited,  without  qualifying  words,  to  a  particular 
body.1  It  signified  a  company  of  persons  that  had 
assembled  for  study,  and,  like  any  other  gild,  had  or¬ 
ganized  for  the  sake  of  protection,  since  they  were  in  a 
town  where  they  were  regarded  as  strangers.  Thus  it 
did  not  refer  to  a  place  or  school  at  all,  but  to  the 
teachers  and  scholars.  When  it  was  desired  to  express 
the  abstract  notion  of  an  academic  institution,  studium 
generate  was  the  phrase  used.  This  indicated  a  school 
or  place  where  students  from  all  parts  of  civilization 
were  received,  and  was  contrasted  with  a  studium  par- 
ticulare ,  which  taught  only  a  few  from  the  neighbor¬ 
hood. 

The  students  of  each  studium  generate  naturally 
grouped  themselves  according  to  the  part  of  the  world 
from  which  they  came,  and  the  charters  were  sometimes 
conferred  upon  the  nationes  (‘nations’)  separately, 
as  these  organizations  had  usually  preceded  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  the  university.  The  nations,  however,  soon 
began  to  combine  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  greater 
privileges  and  power.  By  the  early  part  of  the  thir¬ 
teenth  century,  the  students  of  Bologna  had  merged 
their  organizations  into  two  bodies,  —  the  tmiversitas 
citramontatiorum  (‘  Cisalpine  corporation  ’),  composed 
of  seventeen  nations,  and  the  universitas  ultramontano- 
rum  (‘Transalpine  corporation’),  made  up  of  eighteen; 
but  not  for  some  three  centuries  were  these  two  united. 
The  University  of  Paris  included  the  four  nations  of 
France,  Picardy,  Normandy,  and  England.2  Every 
year  each  nation  chose  its  chief,  who  was  called  the 

1  During  the  fourteenth  century  the  word  universitas  came  to  be  used 
alone  of  the  institution  of  learning. 

2  In  later  centuries  England  was  replaced  by  Germany. 


of  students 
and  teachers, 
and  when 
the  school  or 
its  seat  was 
intended, 

*  studium 
generale  ’ 
was  used. 


University 
students  were 
usually 
grouped 
by  their 
*  nations,’ 


and  each 
nation  chose 
a  ‘  consiliar- 
ius  ’  to  repre¬ 
sent  it. 


88 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Each  ‘  fac¬ 
ulty,’  which 
originally 
meant  a 
department 
of  knowl¬ 
edge,  soon 
elected  its 
own  ‘  dean,' 
and  the  deans 
and ‘ con- 
siliarii  ’ 
elected  the 
‘  rector.’ 


The  course 
in  ‘  arts  ’ 
included  the 
seven  liberal 
arts  and 
some  of  the 
treatises  of 
Aristotle ; 


consiliarius  (‘  councilor ,).1  It  was  his  duty  to  repre¬ 
sent  the  nation,  guard  its  rights,  and  control  the  con¬ 
duct  of  its  members. 

On  the  side  of  the  masters,  the  university  became 
organized  into  faculties.  The  word  facultas  was  origi¬ 
nally  used  of  a  special  department  of  knowledge,  and 
then  applied  to  a  body  of  masters  teaching  a  particular 
range  of  subjects.  Hence  there  arose  the  four  faculties 
of  arts,  law,  medicine,  and  theology,  or  even  five,  where 
law  was  divided  into  civil  and  canon.2  But  few  uni¬ 
versities,  however,  had  the  four  faculties,  and  those  they 
possessed  were  very  unequal  in  strength.  Even  at  its 
height  Paris  had  no  faculty  of  civil  law,  while  in 
theology  it  shared  what  was  practically  a  monopoly 
with  the  English  universities.  Law  was  in  most  univer¬ 
sities  the  leading  faculty.  Each  faculty  came  to  elect 
a  decanus  (*  dean  ’)  as  its  representative  in  the  university 
organization.  The  deans,  together  with  the  councilors 
of  the  student  bodies,  elected  the  rector,  or  head  of  the 
university.  This  officer,  however,  had  only  such  powers 
as  were  delegated  to  him.  In  the  South  the  rector  was 
usually  a  student,  but  in  the  North,  where  the  masters 
controlled,  he  was  generally  chosen  from  the  faculty  of 
arts. 

The  Courses  of  Study.  —  The  content  of  the  courses 
offered  by  each  faculty  differed  greatly  in  the  various 
universities,  and  was  somewhat  modified  from  time  to 
time  even  in  the  same  university.  However,  during  the 
thirteenth  century  it  came  in  each  case  to  be  rather 
definitely  fixed  by  papal  decree  or  university  legislation, 
and  practically  no  departure  from  the  course  laid  down 
was  allowed.3  For  the  course  in  arts,  which  occupied 

1  In  Paris  he  was  known  as  the  procurator  ;  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
as  procurator  or  proctor ,  or  sometimes  in  Cambridge  as  rector. 

2  Paetow  ( Arts  Course  at  Medieval  Universities ,  pp.  55-58  and  81-84) 
has  shown  that  there  were  separate  faculties  and  distinct  degrees  in 
‘  grammar  ’  from  those  ki  ‘  arts,’  and  that  Bologna  had  a  separate  faculty 
in  ars  notaria ,  if  not  in  ars  dictaminis,  which  conferred  the  degree  of 
doctor  notaria. 

3  A  clear  and  comprehensive  treatment  of  the  university  courses  is  found 
in  Norton’s  Mediceval  Universities  (Cambridge,  1909),  pp.  37-80, 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


89 


some  six  years,  the  compendia  and  texts  on  the  liberal 
arts  already  referred  to,1  Donatus  and  Priscian,  and 
Alexander  of  Villedieu  and  Eberhard  of  Bethune 2  on 
grammar,  Boethius  on  rhetoric,  dialectic,  arithmetic,  and 
music,  Alberich  and  Boncompagno  on  ars  dictaminis ,3 
Euclid  on  geometry,  Ptolemy  on  astronomy,  and  other 
standard  works,  were  in  general  use,  but  they  were  en¬ 
riched  during  this  period  by  the  additions  of  the  Arabic 
treatises  on  mathematics  and  dialectic  and  many  other 
new  texts.  The  course  in  arts  also  included  many  of  the 
works  of  Aristotle.  Some  of  his  logical  treatises  had  been 
previously  known,  and  during  the  thirteenth  century  the 
rest  of  the  Organon ,  and  the  Ethics ,  Politics ,  Poetics ,  and 
Rhetoric ,  and  his  works  upon  natural  science,  came  to  be 
translated  either  from  the  Arabic  or  the  original  and 
used  as  texts.  Thus  in  1215  the  following  course  in 
arts  was  prescribed  for  Paris  by  Robert  de  Courgon :  — 

“  The  treatises  of  Aristotle  on  logic,  both  old  and  new,  and  the 
two  Priscians  4  are  to  be  read  in  the  regular  course.  On  feast-days 
nothing  is  to  be  read  except  philosophy,  rhetoric,  qnadrivialia ,  the 
Barbarisms,5  the  Ethics,  and  the  Topics.6  The  books  of  Aristotle 
on  Metaphysics  or  Natural  Philosophy,  or  the  abridgments  of  these 
works,  are  not  to  be  read.” 7 

But  this  ‘  liberal  ’  course  did  not  contain  any  of  the 
modern  studies,  such  as  history  or  modern  languages  and 
literatures,  and  it  devoted  little  attention  to  Roman 
classics,  and,  outside  of  Aristotle,  none  at  all  to  Greek. 
Moreover,  probably  at  no  university  were  all  the  works 
mentioned  in  use,  but  rather  there  were  different  selec¬ 
tions  made  in  each  institution. 

The  course  in  law  generally  consisted  of  two  parts, — 

1  See  pp.  14-21. 

2  See  p.  20. 

3  See  p.  18,  footnote  3,  and  p.  88,  footnote  2. 

4  The  first  sixteen  books  of  Priscian’s  grammar  were  known  as  the 
major,  and  the  last  two  as  the  minor. 

5  The  third  book  of  Donatus,  Ars  Major. 

6  A  logical  treatise  of  Boethius. 

7  The  Church  was  at  this  time  still  a  trifle  distrustful  of  Aristotle. 


90 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


in  medicine, 

works  of 

Hippocrates, 

Galen, 

Avicenna, 

Isaac,  and 

Nicolaus; 


and  in  the¬ 
ology,  Peter 
the  Lom¬ 
bard’s  Sen- 
tentice  and 
the  Bible. 


civil  and  canon.1  In  the  former,  the  Corpus  Juris  Civilis 
was  the  authorized  text.  This  work  now  included  the 
Code,  or  compilation  of  imperial  edicts,  the  Digest1  of 
opinions  of  Roman  jurists,  and  the  Institutes ,  which  was 
an  introductory  text  for  students.  The  official  treatise 
for  the  study  of  canon  law  was  the  Decretum  Gratiani. 
That  consisted  of  three  parts  on  ecclesiastical  offices, 
the  administration  of  canon  law,  and  the  ritual  and  sac¬ 
raments,  respectively. 

In  the  faculty  of  medicine  were  included  the  Greek 
treatises  by  Hippocrates  (c.  460-375,  B.a)  and  Galen 
(c.  130-200,  a.d.),  together  with  the  works  of  certain 
Saracen,  Jewish,  and  Salernitan  physicians.  The  chief 
of  these  latter  treatises  seem  to  have  been  the  medical 
Canon  of  Avicenna,3  the  Liber  Febrium  and  Liber  Die- 
tarum  written  by  Isaac  Judaeus,  and  the  Antidotarium  by 
Nicolaus  of  Salerno.4 

The  students  of  theology  put  most  of  their  time  upon 
the  four  books  of  Peter  the  Lombard’s  Sententice ,  al¬ 
though  the  Bible  was  studied  incidentally.  This  neglect 
of  the  Scriptures  for  the  scholastic  theology  and  the 
traditions  of  the  Church,  which  was  so  characteristic  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  is  thus  stigmatized  by  the  advanced 
thinker,  Roger  (‘  Friar  ’)  Bacon  (12 14-1294):  — 

“  Although  the  principal  study  of  the  theologian  ought  to  be  in 
the  text  of  Scripture,  in  the  last  fifty-years  theologians  have  been 
principally  occupied  with  questions  in  tractates  and  Sumtnce ,  — 
horse-loads  composed  by  many,  —  and  not  at  all  with  the  most  holy 
text  of  God.  And  accordingly,  theologians  give  a  readier  reception 
to  a  treatise  of  scholastic  questions  than  they  do  to  one  about  the 
text  of  Scripture.”  5 

The  Methods  of  Study.  —  The  training  of  a  mediaeval 

1  See  pp.  78  f. 

2  Sometimes  called  Pandects . 

8  See  p.  42  for  Avicenna. 

4  For  the  details  of  a  general  course  in  medicine,  see  Rashdall,  Uni¬ 
versities  in  the  Middle  Ages,  Vol.  II,  Pt.  I,  p.  123;  for  that  of  Paris, 
Munro,  Mediceval  Student ,  pp.  16-17;  for  that  of  Oxford,  Rashdall,  op. 
cit .,  Vol.  II,  Pt.  II,  pp.  780  and  454  f. 

5  See  Brewer’s  translation  of  Bacon’s  Compendium  Siudii  Theologies. 


THE  MEDI/EVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


91 


student  consisted  not  only  in  acquiring  the  subjects 
mentioned,  but  in  learning  to  debate  upon  them.  The  ac¬ 
quisition  of  the  subject  matter  was  accomplished  through 
lectures,  which  consisted  in  reading  and  explaining 
the  textbook  under  consideration.  This  was  rendered 
necessary  by  the  scarcity  of  manuscripts,  which  had  to  be 
used  until  the  invention  of  printing,  and  the  difficulty  in 
purchasing  or  renting  copies  of  them.  Each  work  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  text  and  commentaries  upon  it.  The  glosses, 
which  had  often  grown  to  such  proportions  as  com¬ 
pletely  to  overshadow  the  original,  consisted  of  explan¬ 
atory  notes,  summaries,  cross-references,  and  objections 
to  the  author’s  statements.1  To  these  the  teacher 
might  add  a  commentary  of  his  own  as  he  read.  Odo- 
fredus,  the  jurist,  thus  describes  his  procedure  at 
Bologna :  — 


The  texts, 
with  their 
glosses,  were 
read  and  ex¬ 
plained  by 
the  lecturers, 
and  taken 
down  with¬ 
out  investiga¬ 
tion  by  the 
students. 


“  First,  I  shall  give  you  summaries  of  each  chapter  before  I  proceed 
to  the  text  ;  secondly,  I  shall  give  you  as  clear  and  explicit  a  state¬ 
ment  as  I  can  of  the  purport  of  each  Law  (included  in  the  chapter)  ; 
thirdly,  I  shall  read  the  text  with  a  view  to  correcting  it  ;  fourthly, 
I  shall  briefly  repeat  the  contents  of  the  Law  ;  fifthly,  I  shall  solve 
apparent  contradictions,  adding  any  general  principles  of  Law  (to 
be  extracted  from  the  passage),  and  any  distinctions  or  subtle  and 
useful  problems  arising  out  of  the  Law  with  their  solutions.”  2 


The  master  must  often  have  had  to  read  the  passage 
repeatedly,  in  order  that  all  might  grasp  it,  and  he 
ordinarily  read  slowly  enough  for  the  student  to  treat 
his  commentary  as  a  dictation.  There  was  always  con¬ 
siderable  objection  to  rapid  reading,  and  even  university 
regulations  were  made  against  a  master’s  lecturing  so  fast 
as  not  to  permit  of  full  notes.  Naturally,  such  a  method 
afforded  little  freedom  in  thinking.  There  could  be  no 
real  investigation,  but  simply  a  slavish  following  of  the 
text  and  lecture.  The  whole  exercise  was  carried  on  in 
Latin,  which  had  to  be  learned  by  the  student  before 
coming  to  the  university. 

The  training  in  debate  was  furnished  by  means  of 

1  An  excellent  illustration  is  given  in  the  selection  from  Gratian  in 
Norton’s  Mediceval  Universities ,  pp.  59-75. 

2  See  Rashdall,  Universities ,  Vol.  I,  pp.  219-220. 


92 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


A  training  in 
debate  was 
also  fur¬ 
nished  by- 
means  of 
formal  dis¬ 
putations 
between 
students. 


Upon  pass¬ 
ing  the  ex¬ 
amination  at 
the  end,  a 
student 
became  a 
‘  master  ’  or 
*  doctor  ’ ; 


formal  disputations,  in  which  one  student,  or  group  of 
students,  was  pitted  against  another.  In  these  contests, 
which  also  were  conducted  in  Latin,  not  only  were 
authorities  cited,  but  the  debaters  might  add  arguments 
of  their  own.  Sometimes  a  single  person  might  exercise 
himself  by  arguing  both  sides  of  the  question  and  com¬ 
ing  to  a  judgment  for  one  side  or  the  other.  This 
debating  had  been  instituted  to  afford  some  acuteness 
and  vigor  of  intellect,  and,  compared  with  the  memoriz¬ 
ing  of  lectures,  it  served  its  purpose  well,  but  by  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  had  gone  to  such  an 
extreme  as  to  be  no  longer  reputable.  The  aim  came 
to  be  to  win  and  to  secure  applause  without  regard  to 
truth  or  consistency. 

Degrees.  —  After  three  to  seven  years  of  study  and 
training,  the  student  was  examined  on  his  ability  to  dis¬ 
pute  and  define.  If  he  passed,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
grade  of  master,  doctor,  ox  professor.  The  taking  of  this 
degree  signified  that  the  candidate  had,  as  in  the  gilds 
and  other  mediaeval  organizations,  passed  through  the 
stages  of  ‘apprentice’  and  ‘journeyman,’  and  presented 
his  ‘  masterpiece.’ 1  He  was  now  ready  to  practice  the 
craft  of  teaching  and  to  compete  with  the  other  masters 
for  students.  The  degrees  ‘  master  ’  and  ‘  doctor  ’  seem 
to  have  been  originally  about  on  a  par  with  each  other.2 
The  master’s  examination,  which  gave  the  license  to 
teach  anywhere,  was  private  and  most  formal,  while  that 
for  the  doctorate  was  public  and  mostly  a  ceremonial. 
As  soon  as  a  candidate  was  successful  in  the  one,  he 
immediately  proceeded  to  the  other,  upon  which  oc¬ 
casion  he  received  both  the  license  to  teach  and  the 
doctor’s  degree.3  Accompanied  by  friends  and  fellow- 


1  See  p.  97.  So  the  German  universities  still  use  Arbeit  of  the  aca¬ 
demic  ‘masterpiece,’ — the  doctoral  dissertation. 

2  A  fuller  discussion  of  these^synonyms  is  found  in  Rashdall,  Universi¬ 
ties,  Vol.  I,  pp.  21-22. 

8  The  German  universities  to-day  combine  the  two,  and  at  the  comple¬ 
tion  of  his  course,  create  the  candidate  philosophice  doctor  et  artium 
magister.  But  the  master’s  degree  has  now  generally  come  to  be  inferior 
to  the  doctorate,  as  in  France  and  America. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


93 


students  and  preceded  by  a  trumpeter,  he  marched  to  the 
cathedral  in  state.  There,  after  a  speech  and  a  formal 
defense  of  some  thesis  against  picked  opponents,  he  was 
presented  to  the  archdeacon  of  the  diocese,  who  con¬ 
ferred  the  degree  upon  him  with  a  formula  not  unlike 
that  used  on  similar  occasions  in  modern  universities.1 

The  baccalaureate,  or  bachelor’s  degree,  was  at  first 
not  a  real  degree,  but  simply  permission  to  become  a 
candidate  for  the  license.  During  the  thirteenth  century, 
however,  it  came  to  be  sought  as  an  honor  by  many  not 
intending  to  teach,  and  after  the  lapse  of  two  centuries 
it  became  generally  recognized  as  a  separate  degree. 

The  Value  of  the  University  Education  and  Its  Effect 
upon  Civilization.  —  The  defects  in  the  training  of  the 
mediaeval  universities  are  obvious.  The  content  of  their 
course  of  study  was  meager,  fixed,  and  formal.  It  leaned 
toward  dogmatism  and  disputation,  and  dealt  entirely 
with  books,  without  a  genuine  desire  for  the  discovery 
of  facts  or  the  revelation  of  truth.  It  neglected  com¬ 
pletely  the  real  literature  of  the  classical  age,  and  cared 
little  for  developing  the  imagination  and  the  aesthetic 
side  of  life.  Similarly,  the  methods  of  teaching  were 
stereotyped  and  authoritative.  They  permitted  little  that 
savored  of  investigation  or  thinking. 

These,  however,  were  the  general  faults  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  the  universities  were  evidently  the  product  of 
the  growing  tendencies  to  break  through  them  and  burst 
the  fetters  of  the  intellect.  Despite  their  adherence  to 
dogmatism  and  their  seeming  opposition  to  investigation, 
they  did  much  to  foster  intellectual  development.  They 
were  the  greatest  encouragement  to  subtlety,  industry,  and 
thoroughness,  and  their  tendency  toward  speculation  was 
primarily  responsible  for  the  modern  spirit  of  inquiry  and 
rationality.  The  activity  they  nurtured  made  possible  such 
minds  as  those  of  Dante,  Petrarch,  Boccaccio,  and  Eras¬ 
mus  in  intellectual  and  literary  lines;  Wyclif,  Huss,  and 
Luther  in  the  theological  and  ecclesiastical  field ;  and 

1  For  the  form  used  at  Bologna,  see  Rashdall,  Universities ,  Vol.  II, 
PP*  734-735* 


the  bacca¬ 
laureate  was 
at  first  simply 
permission 
to  enter. 

The  univer¬ 
sity  course 
was  meager, 
fixed,  and 
formal,  and 
the  methods 
were  stereo¬ 
typed  ; 


but  these 
were  the  gen¬ 
eral  faults  of 
the  Middle 
Ages,  and 
the  universi¬ 
ties  did  much 
to  foster 
intellectual 
development, 
and  to  make 
great  minds 
possible. 


94 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


They  were 
also  of  im¬ 
mediate  as¬ 
sistance  in 
moderating 
absolutism. 


Friar  Bacon,  Copernicus,  Galileo,  and  Francis  Bacon  in 
the  realm  of  realism  and  science. 

Even  as  an  institution  the  universities  were  of  im¬ 
mediate  assistance  in  promoting  freedom  of  discussion 
and  advancing  democracy.  They  became  the  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  secular  and  popular  interest,  and  mod¬ 
erated  greatly  the  power  of  the  papacy  and  absolute 
sovereignty.  They  were  regarded  by  all  classes  as  a 
court  of  arbitration,  and  to  them  were  referred  disputes 
between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers.  Paris, 
through  its  location,  numbers,  and  government,  was 
especially  powerful.  When  appealed  to  by  the  king, 
Philip  VI,  it  compelled  the  pope,  John  XXII,  to  retract 
his  judgment  and  humbly  apologize,  and  the  same  in¬ 
stitution,  half  a  century  later,  was  most  instrumental  in 
forcing  the  abdication  of  John  XXIII  and  Benedict  XII, 
and  thus  closing  the  scandalous  papal  schism.1  The 
influence  of  the  universities  liberalized  all  mediaeval  in¬ 
stitutions,  and  aided  greatly  in  advancing  the  cause  of 
individualism  and  carrying  forward  the  torch  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  and  progress. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Denifle,  H.  Die  Statuten  der  Jurist en-Universitat  Bologna ,  1317- 
1347' 

Denifle,  H.,  and  Chatelain,  A.  Chartularium  Universitatis 
Parisiensis . 

Henderson,  E.  F.  Select  Historical  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Pp.  262-266. 

Munro,  D.  C.  The  Mediceval  Student  ( Translations  and  Reprints , 
Vol.  II,  No.  3). 

Norton,  A.  O.  Readings  in  the  History  of  Education.  Mediceval 
Universities. 

Ogg,  F.  A.  Source  Book  of  Mediceval  History.  Chap.  XXI. 
Robinson,  J.  H.  Readings  in  European  History.  Vol.  I,  Chap. 
XIX,  IV. 

Schmeller,  J.  A.  Carmina  Burana  (third  edition). 

Symonds,  J.  A.  Wine ,  Women ,  and  Song. 

1  See  D’Achery,  Spicilegium ,  I,  pp.  777  f. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  UNIVERSITIES 


95 


II.  Authorities 

Abelson,  P.  The  Seven  Liberal  Arts. 

Barnard,  H.  An  Account  of  Universities  (National  Education , 

Pt.  III). 

Bresslau,  H.  Handbuch  der  Urkundenlehre  fur  Deutschland  mid 
It  alien. 

Compayre,  G.  Abelard  and  the  Origin  and  Early  History  of  Uni¬ 
versities. 

Denifle,  P.  H.  Die  Entstehung  der  Universitaten  des  Mittelalters 
bis  1400. 

Drane,  A.  T.  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars.  Pp.  366-475. 
Emerton,  E.  Mediceval  Europe.  Chap.  XIII. 

Fournier,  P.  J.  M.  Les  statuts  et  privileges  des  Universites  fran- 
caises. 

Giesebrecht,  W.  Die  Vaganten  oder  Goliardi  und  ihre  Lieder. 
Haskins,  C.  H.  The  Life  of  a  Mediceval  Student  (. American  His¬ 
torical  Review ,  1897-1898). 

Haskins,  C.  H.  The  University  of  Paris  in  the  Sermons  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century  (American  Historical  Review ,  1904,  pp. 
1-27). 

Jessopp,  A.  The  Coming  of  the  Friars.  Chap.  VI. 

Jourdain,  C.  M.  G.  Histoire  de  PUniversite  de  Paris. 

Kaufmann,  G.  Die  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Universitaten. 
Laurie,  S.  S.  The  Rise  and  Early  Constitution  of  Universities. 
Lyte,  H.  C.  M.  A  History  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  Chaps. 
I-VI. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  University  of  Cambridge. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  Universities  ( Encyclopedia  Britannic  o'). 
Newman,  J.  H.  Historical  Sketches.  Vol.  Ill,  Chaps.  XIV-XVI. 
Paetow,  L.  J.  The  Arts  Course  at  Medieval  Universities  ( The 
University  of  Illinois  Studies.  Vol.  Ill,  No.  7). 

Parker,  J.  The  Early  History  of  Oxford. 

Paulsen,  F.  The  German  Universities  (translated  by  Thilly  and 
Elwang). 

Rashdall,  H.  The  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Savigny,  F.  Geschichte  des  Romischen  Rechts  im  Mittelalter. 
Sheldon,  H.  D.  Student  Life  and  Custo?ns. 

Walden,  H.  On  the  Origin  of  Universities  and  Academic  Deg>~ees. 
Woodward,  W.  H.  (Editor).  Mediceval  Schools  and  Universities. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITIES  AND  NEW  SCHOOLS 


The 

Crusades 
gave  a  great 
impulse  to 
commerce, 
manufac¬ 
tures,  and 
industries, 


and  thus  coiv 
tributed  to 
the  growth 
of  cities 


The  Rise  of  Commerce  and  Cities.  —  An  important 
influence  upon  civilization  and  education  during  the 
later  Middle  Ages  was  that  produced  by  the  increase  in 
commerce.  Foreign  trade  had  never  died  out  since 
Roman  days,  despite  the  injuries  wrought  by  the  bar¬ 
barian  invasions,  as  the  nobles  had  always  need  of 
luxuries  and  the  Church  of  articles  of  utility  in  its  serv¬ 
ices.  But  the  demand  for  vessels  and  transports  during 
the  Crusades,  and  the  desire  for  the  precious  stones, 
silks,  perfumes,  drugs,  spices,  and  porcelain  from  the 
Orient  afterward,  gave  a  tremendous  impulse  to  com¬ 
mercial  activity.  Thus  communication  between  the 
states  of  Europe  was  greatly  facilitated,  new  commercial 
routes  and  new  regions  were  opened,  geographical 
knowledge  was  increased,  navigation  was  developed, 
maritime  and  mercantile  affairs  were  organized,  manu¬ 
factures  and  industries  were  enlarged,  currency  was 
increased,  and  forms  of  credit  were  improved.  All  this 
tended  toward  a  larger  intellectual  view  and  a  partial 
dissipation  of  provincialism  and  intolerance. 

The  most  important  consequence  of  this  industrial 
awakening  was  the  rise  and  growth  of  cities.  The  old 
Roman  towns  of  Italy  and  Gaul  revived  and  grew  rap¬ 
idly  in  size  and  wealth,  and  new  cities  sprang  up  around 
the  manorial  estates  and  monasteries  as  manufactures, 
trade,  and  commerce  increased.  The  people  in  these 
cities  rebelled  against  the  rule  of  their  lords  and  either 
expelled  them  altogether  or  secured  from  them  for  a 
monetary  consideration  a  charter  conferring  more  liberal 
rights  and  privileges.  For  example,  a  charter  granted 
by  Henry  of  Troyes  in  1175,  stipulated  as  follows:  — 

96 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITIES  AND  NEW  SCHOOLS  97 


“  All  persons  living  in  the  said  city  shall  pay  each  year  twelve 
deniers  and  a  measure  of  oats  as  the  price  of  his  domicile  ;  and  if  he 
wishes  to  have  a  portion  of  ground  or  of  meadow,  he  shall  pay  four 
deniers  rent  an  acre.  The  inhabitants  of  said  town  shall  not  be 
forced  to  make  war  nor  go  on  any  expedition,  unless  I  myself  am  at 
their  head.  I  grant  them  besides  the  right  to  have  six  magistrates, 
who  shall  administer  the  common  affairs  of  the  town.  No  lord, 
cavalier,  or  other  shall  take  from  the  town  any  of  its  inhabitants  for 
any  reason.” 

As  manufactures  and  trade  developed,  the  merchants 
and  other  citizens  grew  rapidly  in  wealth  and  importance, 
and  before  long  the  burgher  class  had  a  recognized 
position  by  the  side  of  the  clergy  and  nobility.  The 
burghers  became  educated,  and  were  soon  appealed  to 
for  counsel  by  the  kings. 

The  Gild,  Burgher,  and  Chantry  Schools.  —  But  besides 
the  general  organization  of  the  towns,  separate  craft 
gilds  had  also  been  established,  to  prevent  any  one  who 
had  not  been  regularly  approved  from  practising  the 
trade  he  represented.  Under  the  gild  system,  one  had 
to  spend  from  three  to  ten  years  learning  his  craft,  first 
as  an  apprentice  with  no  wages,  and  later  as  a  journey- 
man ,  working  for  the  public  only  through  his  master. 
The  number  of  apprentices  was  limited,  and  the  craft 
otherwise  regulated  and  protected.  The  masons  of 
Paris,  for  instance,  had  to  observe  these  regulations :  — 

“No  one  shall  have  more  than  one  apprentice  in  his  trade,  and  if 
he  has  an  apprentice,  he  shall  engage  him  for  not  less  than  six  years’ 
service,  but  of  course  he  may  engage  him  for  a  longer  term  of  service 
and  for  more  money,  if  he  is  able  to  do  so.  If  he  engage  him  for 
less  than  six  years,  he  shall  be  fined  twenty  sous.  The  mason,  how¬ 
ever,  may  take  another  apprentice  as  soon  as  the  first  apprentice 
shall  have  completed  five  years.” 

In  this  way  there  had  grown  up  a  species  of  industrial 
education  with  three  definite  stages  in  its  organization. 
Before  long,  too,  the  gilds  developed  a  formal  means  of 
education,  which  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  gild 
schools. 

A  famous  foundation  of  this  sort  is  recorded  in  the 
report  of  Edward  VTs  commissioner,  who  tells  us  con¬ 
cerning  the  city  of  Worcester :  — 

H 


and  the 
development 
of  a  burgher 
class. 


‘  Gilds  ’  for 
each  craft 
were  also 
established, 
and  a  species 
of  industrial 
training  grew 
up,  which 
was  followed 
by  ‘  gild 
schools.’ 


98 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


As  the  gild 
organizations 
merged  with 
those  of  the 
towns,  the 
gild  schools 
were  ab¬ 
sorbed  in 
the  burgher 
schools, 
which  some¬ 
times  came 
to  embrace 
also  other 
institutions. 


These 
burgher 
schools 
paved  the 
way  for  secu¬ 
larization  in 
education. 


“  There  hath  byn  tyme  owt  of  mynde,  a  ffree  scole  kept  within  the 
said  citie,  in  a  grete  halle  belongyng  to  the  said  Guylde,  called 
Trinite  Hall  ;  the  scholemaster  whereof  for  the  tyme  beyng  hath 
hade  yerely,  for  his  stypend,  ten  pounds ;  whereof  was  paid,  owt  of 
the  revenues  of  the  said  landes,  by  the  Master  and  Stewards  of  the 
said  Guylde  for  the  tyme  beyng,  vi  li.,  xiii  s.,  iii  d. ;  And  the  resy- 
dewe  of  the  said  stypend  was  collected  and  gathered  of  the  denocioun 
and  benyvolence  of  the  brothers  and  systers  of  the  said  Guylde.”  1 

Although  the  gilds  demanded  a  new  type  of  instruc¬ 
tion,  their  schools  were  still  taught  by  the  clergy, — usually 
the  priests  who  had  been  retained  to  perform  the  neces¬ 
sary  religious  offices  for  the  members  of  the  organizations 
concerned.  The  gild  schools  were  generally  elementary 
in  character,  but  they  not  infrequently  afforded  some 
secondary  instruction.  While  most  of  the  work  was  in 
the  vernacular,  courses  in  Latin  and  other  higher  subjects 
were  also  afforded,  and  some  of  these  gild  schools,  like 
Merchant  Taylors’  of  London,  have  endured  and  attained 
to  great  repute  as  secondary  institutions. 

But  as  the  gild  organizations  gradually  merged  with 
those  of  the  towns,  the  gild  schools  were  generally  ab¬ 
sorbed  in  the  institutions  known  as  the  burgher  schools. 
Another  type  of  institution  that  came  into  prominence 
toward  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  was  also 
sometimes  united  with  the  burgher  schools,  was  the 
chantry  school.  These  chantry  organizations  arose  out 
of  bequests  by  wealthy  persons  to  support  priests  who 
should  *  chant  ’  masses  for  the  repose  of  their  souls,  for 
when  the  priests  were  not  engaged  in  this  religious  duty, 
they  were  required  to  do  some  teaching.  In  this  way 
all  the  various  schools  within  a  town  were  often  combined, 
and  many  new  foundations  of  a  similar  nature  were  made. 
These  burgher  schools  were  largely  controlled  and  sup¬ 
ported  by  the  public  authorities,  although  still  generally 
taught  by  priests.  They  came  to  represent  the  interests 
of  the  merchant  and  artisan  classes,  and  gave  instruction 
in  subjects  of  more  practical  value  than  had  any  of  the 
schools  hitherto.  Such  institutions  sprang  up  everywhere 

1  Quoted  from  Toulmin  Smith’s  Ordinances  of  English  Guilds  by  Monroe, 
Thomas  Platter ,  p.  17. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITIES  AND  NEW  SCHOOLS  99 


during  the  later  Middle  Ages,  and  while  they  were  still 
inspected  by  the  clergy,  and  the  Church  struggled  hard 
to  bring  them  under  her  control,  the  number  of  lay 
teachers  in  them  gradually  increased,  and  thus  paved  the 
way  for  the  secularization  of  education  that  took  place 
during  the  Reformation. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Cheyney,  E.  P.  English  Towns  and  Gilds  ( Translations  and  Re - 
prints ,  Vol.  II,  No.  1). 

Gross,  C.  The  Gild  Merchant. 

Jones,  G.  Studies  in  European  History.  VIII  and  IX. 

Smith,  T.  English  Gilds. 

Zeller,  B.  (Editor).  EHistoire  de  France  racontee  par  les  Con- 
temporains. 

Zeller,  B.  Moeurs  et  Institutions  du  XIII  Siecle. 

II.  Authorities 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chaps.  X- 
XII. 

Ashley,  W.  J.  An  Introduction  to  English  Economic  History  and 
Theory. 

Cunningham,  W.  The  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Commerce. 
Cunningham,  W.  Essay  on  Western  Civilization  in  its  Econo?nic 
Aspects.  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Times.  Chap.  III. 

Cutts,  E.  L.  Scenes  and  Characters  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
Merchants.  Chaps.  Ill  and  VI. 

Draper,  J.  W.  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe. 
Vol.  II,  Chaps.  IV  and  V. 

Guizot,  F.  The  History  of  Civilization.  Lects.  VII  and  VIII. 
Kriegk,  G.  L.  Deutsches  Biirgerthum  in  Mittelalter. 

Monroe,  P.  Thomas  Platter  and  the  Educational  Revival  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century.  Pp.  3-18. 

Wilda,  W.  E.  Das  Gildenwesen  im  Mittelalter . 

Wilken,  F.  Geschichte  der  Kreuzzuge. 


CHAPTER  XI 


The  Holy 
Roman  Em¬ 
pire  was  dis¬ 
rupted  in  its 
struggle  with 
the  papacy 
largely 
through 
feudalism, 
but  feudalism 
was  itself 
undermined 
by  the  Cru¬ 
sades  and 
other  new 
forces,  and 
national 
patriotism 
began  to 
arise.1 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

The  Growth  of  National  Spirit.  —  It  can  now  be  seen 
that  a  new  spirit  had  begun  to  creep  into  European 
civilization.  Even  before  scholasticism  had  come  to  its 
height,  or  the  universities  were  well  under  way,  it  would 
seem  that  the  Middle  Ages  were  passing.  The  struggle 
between  a  world-wide  political  power  and  a  universal 
spiritual  organization  was  drawing  to  a  close  through 
the  downfall  of  the  former.  Frederick  II,  ruler  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  was  in  1245  deposed  by  Inno¬ 
cent  IV,  head  of  the  Imperial  Church  of  Rome,  al¬ 
though  the  civil  monarch  continued  the  struggle  until 
his  death  five  years  later.  This  victory  of  the  Church 
over  the  Empire  had  largely  been  aided  by  the  growth 
of  feudalism,  which  had  worked  itself  out  to  a  logical 
conclusion  and  split  the  Empire  into  fragments.  For 
centuries  afterward  the  emperors  were  mere  figure¬ 
heads,  elected  in  each  case  because  of  their  very  weak¬ 
ness  politically.  But  feudalism  and  the  Church  were 
themselves  being  undermined  by  new  economic  and 
political  forces.  The  Crusades,  which  had  continued 
upon  a  large  scale  during  most  of  the  twelfth  century 
and  in  a  smaller  and  more  spasmodic  way  for  another 
hundred  years,  while  a  failure  from  the  standpoints  of 
religious  or  military  achievement,  had  very  important 
results  upon  civilization.  Thousands  of  crusaders  were 
overcome  by  the  rigors  of  the  journey  or  butchered  by 
hostile  peoples  before  reaching  the  Orient,  and  the 
leaders  became  more  absorbed  in  opposing  their  fellow- 
Christians  of  the  East  or  in  outwitting  each  other  than 
in  overcoming  the  Turks.  But  this  very  sharing  of 
dangers  by  all  nations  and  by  all  classes  of  people 

100 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


IOI 


tended  to  level  social  distinctions  and  to  bind  Christen¬ 
dom  together  in  a  common  purpose.  It  made  evident 
their  common  needs  and  desires.  The  old  nobility  and 
the  former  allegiances  were  largely  ruined,  and  the 
universal  claims  of  the  Church  were  greatly  broken. 
The  inherent  weakness  of  feudalism  began  to  appear, 
and  national  monarchies  and  national  patriotism  arose 
in  the  place  of  this  mediaeval  order  of  society.  The 
degeneracy  of  the  papacy  also  promoted  the  culture  of 
a  national  spirit. 

The  Development  of  Vernacular  Literature.  —  In  many 
other  ways  marked  changes  in  the  mediaeval  ideas  and 
habits  became  evident.  The  break-up  of  the  old  au¬ 
thority  and  repression  was  apparent  not  only  in  new 
political  institutions,  but  also  in  the  altered  aesthetic 
productions  of  the  times.  A  literature  of  the  people 
was  beginning  to  arise.  Before  the  eleventh  century 
the  written  literature  of  Europe,  since  it  dealt  mostly 
with  ecclesiastical  and  learned  subjects,  was  usually  in 
Latin,  although  there  seem  to  have  been  songs,  poems, 
and  stories  that  were  passed  down  in  the  vernacular,  and, 
in  England,  the  Story  of  Beowulf  and  other  prose 
and  poetry  were  actually  written  down.  But  with  the 
eleventh  century  a  large  popular  literature  was  rapidly 
appearing  in  the  national  languages  that  had  now  been 
well  developed.  The  earliest  form  of  these  writings  is 
found  in  the  heroic  poems  of  France.  These  deal  with 
national  themes  of  a  semi-historical  character,  such  as 
the  deeds  of  Charlemagne  and  his  knights,  especially 
with  the  Saracen  foe,  and  are  known  as  the  chansoiis 
de  geste .  Thus,  during  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen¬ 
turies  appeared  such  productions  of  the  Trouvbres ,  or 
poets  of  Northern  France,  as  the  Chanson  de  Roland, 
Aymeri  de  Narbonne,  and  Raoul  de  Cambrai.1  But  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  and  during  the  thirteenth 
century,  when  the  fervor  of  the  Crusades  was  at  its 
height,  and  the  later  and  more  artificial  forms  of 


A  new  type 
of  literature, 
written  in  the 
vernacular, 
also  began  to 
develop. 


1  See  pp.  64  f. 


102 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


chivalry  held  sway,  there  arose  another  type  of  poems, 
consisting  of  accounts  of  knightly  adventures,  with  love 
and  extravagant  devotion  to  women  as  the  central  theme. 
The  spirit  of  this  later  period  is  first  displayed  in  the 
lyrics  of  the  Troubadours}  These  poets  belonged  to 
Southern  France,  where  were  the  greatest  wealth  and 
luxury,  but  their  songs  were  soon  imitated  by  the  bards 
of  England  and  Germany.  In  the  last  named  country 
the  poets  were  known  as  Minnesingers ,  because  they 
sang  of  love.1 2  At  this  time,  too,  were  composed  the 
narrative  poems  based  on  the  stories  of  King  Arthur 
and  his  knights,  the  search  for  the  Holy  Grail,  classical 
tales  concerning  the  Trojan  heroes,  Alexander,  Caesar, 
and  others,  and  the  German  sagas,  of  which  the  best 
example  is,  perhaps,  the  Niebelungenlied  (‘  Song  of  the 
Niebelungs  ’).  Sometimes  these  themes  were  combined, 
as  in  the  famous  Parsifal  of  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach, 
where  the  Arthurian  legends  are  united  with  that  of  the 
Holy  Grail.  During  this  period  also  were  produced 
short  tales  in  verse  known  as  fabliaux.  They  were  in¬ 
tended  only  to  amuse,  and  were  broadly  humorous,  and 
at  times  even  obscene.3  German,  as  well  as  Latin,  pro¬ 
ductions  adapted  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  are  also  found 
in  the  rollicking  songs  of  the  wandering  students,  which, 
like  the  fabliatix ,  satirized  the  monks  and  priests,  and 
the  constraint  of  the  times,  and  voiced  their  joy  in  riot¬ 
ous  and  illicit  pleasure.4 

All  this  literature  shows  what  change  was  taking  place 
in  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  in  the  type  of  audience  for 
which  it  was  written.  These  interesting  and  amusing, 
although  at  times  coarse  and  vulgar,  productions  were 


1  See  p.  65. 

2  The  Middle  High  German  Minne  signifies  ‘  love.’  The  most  famous 
of  the  Minnesingers  were  Walther  von  der  Vogelweide  and  Wolfram  von 
Eschenbach. 

3  They  were  soon  recast  in  prose,  and  became  the  basis  of  Boccaccio’s 
Decameron ,  Margaret  of  Navarre’s  Heptamerony  some  of  Chaucer’s  Can¬ 
terbury  TaleSy  and  even  of  a  number  of  indecent  stories  of  the  present 
day. 

4  See  p.  86. 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


103 


clearly  intended  for  the  people  of  the  town  and  tavern, 
which  did  not  exist  until  the  later  Middle  Ages.  Yet 
they  savor  of  the  protest  against  the  uniformity  and 
absolutism  still  prevailing,  and  illustrate  the  progress 
toward  the  individualism  of  the  Renaissance. 

Mediaeval  Art.  —  With  the  development  of  cities, 
wealth,  and  a  new  literature,  art  also  began  to  appear, 
although  painting  consisted  mostly  of  illuminations  in 
religious  and  secular  books,  illustrative  of  the  text  or  for 
the  purpose  of  decoration.  It  contained  very  many 
symbols  and  was  done  according  to  stereotyped  rules. 
Sculpture  was  also  carried  on,  but  was  largely  subordi¬ 
nate  to  architecture,  which  was  the  chief  art  of  the  Mid¬ 
dle  Ages.  Hence  the  works  of  the  sculptor  were  mainly 
decorations  upon  pillars,  altars,  pulpits,  choir  screens, 
and  clergy  seats.  These  still  appear  in  those  beautiful 
cathedrals  of  the  later  Middle  Ages,  with  their  delicate 
towers,  flying  buttresses,  exquisite  windows,  and  massive 
pillars,  which  have  not  been  equaled  in  modern  archi¬ 
tecture.  By  the  thirteenth  century  secular  buildings, 
especially  gild  and  town  halls,  of  a  similar  finish  and 
beauty,  began  to  be  constructed. 

Summary  of  the  Middle  Ages.  —  This  development  in 
the  spirit  of  politics,  literature,  and  art,  while  not  affect¬ 
ing  educational  ideals,  institutions,  and  practices  directly, 
is  an  indication  of  the  intellectual  activity  of  the  times. 
However  the  earlier  period  may  be  characterized,  the 
thirteenth  century  cannot  be  said  to  be  altogether  lack¬ 
ing  in  the  development  of  culture,  and  under  no  circum¬ 
stances  can  it  be  regarded  as  the  ‘Dark  Ages.’  But,  as 
we  intimated  at  the  outset  of  our  study,1  during  the  early 
part  of  the  Middle  Ages  there  was  a  general  fading  of 
the  literature,  culture,  and  institutions  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  Between  the  fifth  and  eighth  centuries,  with  the 
inroads  of  the  uncouth  German  tribes,  there  had  come 
about  an  increasing  decline  of  Roman  civilization.  The 
Roman  buildings,  art  treasures,  libraries,  and  systems  of 


Art  also 
appeared, 
especially  in 
works  of 
architecture. 
While  most 
art  was 
shown  in  the 
cathedrals 
and  their 
decorations, 
by  the 
thirteenth 
century  secu¬ 
lar  buildings 
began  to  be 
constructed. 


All  this 
development 
shows  an 
intellectual 
activity  that 
would  indi¬ 
cate  the 
absurdity  of 
the  term, 

‘  Dark  Ages.’ 

Yet,  during 
the  early 
Middle  Ages 
there  was  a 
general 
fading  of  the 
Graeco- 
Roman  in¬ 
stitutions, 


1  Sec  Chapter  I. 


104 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  in  order 
to  enable  the 
Germans  to 
absorb  them, 
an  authori¬ 
tative  stand¬ 
ard  was 
necessary. 


But  the 

periodic 

rebellions 

against  this 

system 

gradually 

weakened 

the  bonds  of 

absolutism, 


and,  through 
a  variety  of 
factors,  there 
arose  that 
great 

awakening 
of  the  human 
spirit  known 
as  the 

Renaissance. 


education  had  been  mostly  destroyed  or  lost,  and  even 
the  magnificent  Roman  roads,  which  had  so  facilitated 
commerce  and  communication,  were  permitted  to  fall 
into  disuse  and  decay.  Civil  order  was  largely  ruined, 
and  a  class  of  people  came  into  control  who  were  too  un¬ 
trained  for  classic  learning  and  culture  to  continue. 

But  barbarous  as  the  Germans  were,  they  were  des¬ 
tined  to  absorb  the  Graeco-Roman  civilization  and  the 
Christian  ideals,  and,  amalgamating  them  with  their  own 
institutions,  to  pass  them  on  to  modern  times.  To  stop 
the  decay  and  bring  these  mediaeval  people  up  to  the 
level  of  the  past,  it  was  necessary  to  set  an  authoritative 
standard  and  repress  all  variation  on  the  part  of  the 
individual.  The  human  intellect  was  confined  to  narrow 
limits,  and  all  efforts  to  obtain  truth  by  investigation  were 
discouraged. 

Yet  such  bondage  of  the  human  spirit  was  unnatural, 
and  the  fetters  upon  individualism  were  bound  to  be 
broken.  Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  there  were 
periodic  tendencies  to  rebel  against  the  system.  In  fact, 
medievalism  contained  within  itself  the  germ  of  its  own 
emancipation.  During  the  eighth  century,  as  the  barba¬ 
rians  began  to  settle  down  and  re-group  themselves  under 
Frankish  kings,  there  came  about  a  new  order,  culmi¬ 
nating  in  the  Carolingian  revival  of  education.  While 
conditions  were  never  as  desperate  again  after  this  ad¬ 
vance,  the  disruption  of  Charlemagne’s  empire,  the  hard¬ 
ening  of  the  feudal  system,  various  civil  wars,  and  the 
isolation  of  many  parts  of  Europe,  led  before  long  to  an¬ 
other  decline. 

However,  the  bonds  of  absolutism  and  feudalism  were 
gradually  weakened,  national  monarchies  and  a  secular 
spirit  began  to  arise,  and  by  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  a  new  revival,  material  and  intellectual,  had 
begun  to  appear.  Several  developments  gave  evidence 
of  the  expansion  within,  and  helped  to  produce  it.  The 
worldly  appeal  of  chivalry,  the  broadening  of  horizon 
produced  by  contact  with  the  Moors,  and  through  the 
Crusades,  together  with  the  growth  of  cities,  gilds,  com- 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


105 


merce,  wealth,  and  luxury,  the  development  of  literature 
and  art,  and,  above  everything,  the  emancipation  of 
thought  and  reason  through  the  discussions  of  scholasti¬ 
cism  and  the  foundation  of  universities,  —  all  helped  by 
accumulation  to  make  the  last  two  centuries  of  the  Middle 
Ages  a  period  of  increased  activity  and  progress.  And 
from  this  there  was  destined  shortly  to  arise  a  great 
awakening  of  the  human  spirit  and  that  revival  of  classic 
culture  known  as  the  Renaissance . 


The 

mediaeval  re¬ 
pression  and 
uniformity 
were  break¬ 
ing  almost 
from  the 
start,  but  not 
until  the 
latter  half  of 
the  four¬ 
teenth  cen¬ 
tury  was  it 
apparent  that 
these  tend¬ 
encies  were 
giving  way 
to  a  renewed 
individual¬ 
ism. 


PART  II  — THE  TRANSITION  TO 
MODERN  TIMES 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  RENAISSANCE  AND  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION 

The  General  Tendencies  of  the  Renaissance.  —  A  study 
of  the  Middle  Ages  has  revealed  how  restricted  and 
stereotyped  intellectual  activity  had  become,  and  how 
largely  the  cultural  products  of  Greece  and  Rome  had 
disappeared.  Equally  obvious  were  the  efforts  of  the 
human  spirit  to  burst  through  its  confinement  and  uni¬ 
formity,  and  attain  to  some  freedom  of  expression  and  a 
renewed  individualism.  The  repression  was  slowly 
breaking  almost  from  the  time  it  was  formed,  but  while 
there  was  a  definite  revival  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighth  and  the  first  half  of  the  ninth  centuries,  and  one 
much  more  marked  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth,  it  was 
not  until  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century  that 
the  movement  made  itself  really  felt. 

At  that  time  the  transition  was  greatly  accelerated, 
and  it  became  evident  that  the  dormant  period  had  at 
length  given  way  to  the  dawn.  There  appeared  a  gen¬ 
eral  intellectual  and  cultural  progress  that  began  to  free 
men  from  their  bondage  to  ecclesiasticism  and  induce 
them  to  look  at  the  world  about  them.  The  absolute 
adherence  to  an  ‘otherworldly’  ideal  that  was  character¬ 
istic  of  early  Christianity  and  monasticism,  the  suspicion 
of  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics,  the  restriction  of  learn¬ 
ing,  the  reception  of  the  teachings  of  the  Church  without 
investigation,  and  the  basing  of  all  reasoning  upon 
deductions  therefrom  were  by  this  time  rapidly  disap¬ 
pearing.  Such  tendencies  were  clearly  being  replaced 
by  a  genuine  joy  in  the  life  of  this  world,  a  broader  field 

106 


THE  RENAISSANCE  AND  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  107 

of  knowledge  and  thought,  and  a  desire  to  reason  and 
deal  with  all  ideas  more  critically.  Uniformity  and 
repression  through  authority  were  clearly  giving  way  to 
renewed  and  enlarged  ideals  of  individualism.  The  pur¬ 
pose  of  education  was  gradually  coming  to  be  no  longer 
an  attempt  to  adapt  the  individual  to  a  fixed  system,  but 
to  produce  a  differentiation  of  social  activities  and  to 
encourage  a  realization  of  the  individual  in  society.  The 
days  of  mere  absorption  and  assimilation  were  passing. 

The  Renaissance  and  the  Revival  of  Learning. —  This 
tremendous  widening  of  the  intellectual,  aesthetic,  and 
social  horizon  is  generally  known  as  the  Renaissance 
( ‘new  birth’ ).  Such  a  description,  although  it  is  now 
well  fixed  in  historical  terminology,  may  appear  too 
strong.  It  seems  to  imply  a  long  interval  of  hibernation 
during  the  mediaeval  period  from  which  there  had  at 
length  come  an  awakening.  Whereas,  we  have  seen 
that  the  Middle  Ages,  while  largely  fixed  and  limited  in 
their  intellectual  scope,  certainly  possessed  considerable 
activity  of  their  own,  and  the  expanded  outlook  of  the 
revival  can  be  traced  back  to  economic,  political,  and 
social  factors  that  gradually  arose  during  this  very 
period  of  restriction.  Yet,  if  the  rapidity  of  the  emanci¬ 
pation  that  resulted  from  these  forces  and  the  difference 
in  the  viewpoint  of  the  two  periods  be  taken  into  account, 
the  term  ‘Renaissance’  will  seem  more  appropriate.  It 
may  be  taken  to  indicate  that  the  spirit  of  the  Graeco- 
Roman  development  had  returned,  and  that  possibility 
of  expression  was  granted  to  the  individual  once  more. 
Hence  the  new  era  may  well  be  viewed  as  “a  re-birth  of 
emotions  and  faculties  long  dormant,  an  awakening  of 
man  to  a  new  consciousness  of  life  and  of  the  world  in 
which  he  lives,  and  of  the  problems  which  life  and  the 
world  present  for  the  thinking  mind  to  solve,  and  to  a 
consciousness  also  of  the  power  of  the  mind  to  deal  with 
these  problems.”  1 

But  this  period  is  also  properly  known  as  a  Revival 


The  Middle 
Ages  had 
considerable 
activity  of 
their  own, 
but  the 
rapidity  of 
emancipation 
justifies  the 
term 

Renaissance, 
or  4  new 
birth.’ 


1  Adams,  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages ,  p.  365. 


io8 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


While  the 
recovery  of 
classical  lit¬ 
erature  did 
not  cause  the 
Renaissance, 
it  greatly 
heightened 
it,  and  the 
period,  with 
its  ardent 
search  for 
manuscripts, 
may  well  be 
considered  a 
‘  Revival  of 
Learning.’ 


The  move¬ 
ment,  be¬ 
cause  of  its 
emphasis 
upon  human 
affairs,  be¬ 
came  known 
as  ‘  human¬ 
ism  ’  and  its 
devotees  as 
'  humanists.’ 


of  Learning.  The  awakening  preceded  the  recovery  of 
classical  literature  and  learning,  but  intellectual  freedom 
was  very  greatly  heightened  and  forwarded  thereby.1 
The  only  food  at  hand  that  could  satisfy  the  intellectual 
craving  of  the  times  was  the  literature  and  culture  of  the 
classical  peoples.  The  discovery  that  the  writings  of 
the  ancient  world  were  filled  with  a  genuine  vitality  and 
virility,  and  that  the  old  authors  had  dealt  with  world 
problems  in  a  profound  and  masterly  fashion,  and  with 
far  more  vision  than  had  ever  been  possible  for  the 
restricted  medievalists,  gave  rise  to  an  eager  desire  and 
enthusiasm  for  the  classics  that  went  beyond  all  bounds. 
As  we  have  seen,2  a  knowledge  of  classical  literature 
had  never  altogether  disappeared,  and  various  works 
had  been  preserved  by  the  monks  and  others.  To  search 
out  the  manuscripts  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  writers,  the 
monasteries,  cathedrals,  and  castles  were  now  ransacked 
from  end  to  end.  The  manuscripts  found  were  rapidly 
multiplied,  and  the  greatest  pains  were  taken  to  secure 
the  correct  form  of  every  passage.  The  texts  of  the 
different  manuscripts  were  carefully  compared  and  re¬ 
vised  in  the  light  of  history.  Thus,  besides  the  recov¬ 
ery  of  old  knowledge,  a  better  method  of  criticism  and  a 
development  of  the  critical  judgment  were  produced  that 
were  quite  impossible  under  the  scholastic  system  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

Humanism  and  the  Humanists.  —  Because  of  their 
emphasis  upon  the  beauty  of  this  world  and  upon  human 
affairs,  rather  than  upon  the  life  to  come,  the  devotees 
of  the  new  movement  were  generally  called  huma7iistsy 
and  in  later  times  the  intellectual  phase  of  the  Renais¬ 
sance  became  known  as  humanism .3  The  new  learning 

1  The  old  statement  that  the  Renaissance  was  caused  by  the  accidental 
recovery  of  classical  works,  or,  still  worse,  by  the  Greek  teachers  taking 
refuge  in  Italy  after  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  in  1453,  shows  an 
ignorance  of  the  social  movements  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

2  See  p.  15  and  footnote  on  p.  17. 

3  Of  course  the  development  of  painting  and  sculpture,  and  the  prog¬ 
ress  of  discovery,  during  the  Renaissance  were  fully  as  remarkable  as  the 
revival  in  literature,  but  they  have  little  place  here.  Painting  began  in  the 


THE  RENAISSANCE  AND  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  109 


was  regarded  as  that  which  taught  mankind  how  to  live 
most  fittingly.  So  when  he  has  discussed  this  type  of 
education,  the  youthful  enthusiast  of  Ferrara  writes  at 
the  close  of  his  treatise 1 :  —  “  Learning  and  training  in 
virtue  are  peculiar  to  man;  therefore  our  forefathers 
called  them  humanitas ,  the  pursuits,  the  activities,  proper 
to  mankind.”  These  humanistic  scholars  were  not  the 
first  to  read  the  works  of  classical  Latin,  as  this  interest 
had  been  kept  alive  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  but 
they  were  the  first  to  reject  the  hard  and  narrow  ‘other¬ 
worldliness  ’  of  medievalism  and  to  find  through  the 
classics  a  joy  in  living  and  an  inspiration  to  achieve¬ 
ment  in  this  life.  With  the  revival  of  these  classical 
models,  the  humanists  began  to  produce  a  literature  of 
their  own,  such  as  had  not  existed  since  the  palmiest 
days  of  Rome.  Poetry,  drama,  and  romances  flourished, 
and  the  new  motives  eventually  resulted  also  in  the 
beginning  of  historical  and  social  writings.  Through 
the  humanists  and  their  works  the  spirit  of  modern 
times  was  ushered  in. 

fourteenth  century,  but  did  not  come  to  its  height  until  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifteenth  century  with  such  masters  as  Fra  Angelico  and  Botticelli  in 
Florence  and  the  Van  Eycks  in  Holland,  and  in  the  sixteenth  with  Raph¬ 
ael,  Michael  Angelo,  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci  in  Rome,  Andrea  del  Sarto 
in  Florence,  Titian  in  Venice,  and  Holbein  and  Diirer  in  Germany.  Later 
came  the  Flemish  Rubens  and  Van  Dyck,  the  Dutch  Rembrandt,  and  the 
Spanish  Velasquez. 

1  B.  Guarino  in  his  De  Ordine  Docendi  et  Studendi. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


The  move¬ 
ment  first 
became  evi¬ 
dent  in  Italy, 
because  of 
the  closeness 
of  the  Ital¬ 
ians  to  the 
papacy, 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 

Causes  of  the  Awakening  in  Italy.  —  This  general 
tendency  toward  an  awakening  was  apparent  throughout 
Western  Europe,  but  it  first  became  evident  in  Italy. 
There  were  several  special  reasons  why  this  part  of  the 
country  should  be  the  foremost  to  feel  an  intellectual 
quickening.  They  are  mostly  connected  with  the  fact 
that  Italy  was  at  this  time  the  natural  center  of  activity. 
This  holds  true  of  the  political  and  commercial  spheres 
even  more  than  of  the  religious,  but  one  main  source  of 
the  early  restiveness  in  the  Italian  peninsula  appears  in 
the  fact  that  the  seat  of  the  Church  was  at  Rome.  The 
Italians  were  almost  too  close  to  the  papacy  to  have  the 
respect  for  that  organization  which  was  held  by  the  rest 
of  Christendom.  They  felt  that  the  days  of  the  pope  as 
a  great  international  authority  above  all  secular  powers 
had  passed.  The  pontiff  was  clearly  no  longer  interested, 
as  in  the  time  of  the  Cluniac  popes,  in  insisting  upon  a 
spiritual  supremacy  that  should  include  all  nations,  but 
was  engaged  with  local  Italian  politics.  He  was  at¬ 
tempting  to  maintain  himself  as  a  petty  temporal  ruler 
or  to  secure  some  small  principality  for  his  nephews  or 
other  relatives.  It  appeared  that  the  large  revenues 
that  still  came  rolling  in  from  all  parts  of  Europe  were 
being  expended  to  increase  the  papal  possessions  or  pro¬ 
mote  some  small  Italian  war.  Hence  the  people  of  Italy 
came  to  regard  the  Church  merely  as  a  great  business 
organization,  and  became  rather  skeptical  about  the 
divine  institution  and  authority  of  the  pope.  They  began 
to  think  for  themselves  outside  the  scholastic  system. 

The  chief  factor,  however,  in  producing  mental  alert¬ 
ness  and  early  development  in  Italy  was  the  political 
circumstances  of  her  mediaeval  history.  This  country 

no 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


III 


was  a  regular  storm  center  for  civic  and  interstate 
quarrels.1  In  the  first  place,  Italy  never  became  a  uni¬ 
fied  nation,  but  remained  to  a  large  degree  a  series  of 
independent  city-states.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  country  was  legally  a  part  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 
under  the  rule  of  the  king  of  the  Germans,  who  was 
never  able  to  make  his  control  effective  there.  In  the 
early  period  there  was  a  count  over  each  city  who  was 
supposed  to  represent  the  emperor,  but  was  really  a  sort 
of  feudal  lord.  Within  the  cities,  however,  the  rule  of 
the  counts  was  soon  disputed  by  the  bishops,  whose 
jurisdictions  often  coincided  with  those  of  the  counts, 
and,  as  the  bishops  were  generally  supported  by  the 
people,  the  counts  were  eventually  expelled.  But  the 
bishops,  too,  before  long  fell  under  the  suspicion  of 
the  cities,  which  then  gradually  (iooo-iioo)  took  over 
the  sovereign  rights  into  their  own  hands  and  chose 
their  officials  by  ballot.  However,  only  a  few  of  the 
influential  families  were  allowed  to  have  any  voice  in 
the  government,  and  the  other  classes  were  constantly 
striving  for  representation.  There  was  also  a  continual 
struggle  between  the  higher  and  lower  gilds,  and  between 
the  great  lords,  who,  after  the  decay  of  feudalism,  had 
come  into  the  cities  from  their  castles.2  Disgusted  with 
this  party  strife  and  confusion,  most  of  the  cities  at 
length  allowed  the  government  to  slip  into  the  hands  of 
some  usurper.  Usually  these  despots  concealed  at  first 
the  real  nature  of  the  government  by  a  misleading  title, 
and  by  having  their  powers  voted  them  anew  each  year,3 * * * * 

1 A  good  account  of  the  political  situation  and  the  part  it  played  in  de¬ 
veloping  individualism  is  given  in  Burckhardt,  The  Renaissance  in  Italy . 
Parts  I  and  II. 

2  This  was  the  underlying  cause  of  the  strife  in  Italian  cities  between 

the  Guelphs  and  the  Ghibellines.  It  was  not  so  much  that  one  party 

favored  the  pope  and  the  other  the  emperor,  as  the  historic  opposition  of 
two  great  families  to  each  other  and  their  seizure  of  this  pretext  as  a  basis 

of  party  differences. 

.  8  Such  was  the  case  with  the  podesta,  capitano  del  popolo ,  and  other 
similar  offices  in  the  various  cities.  Sometimes,  however,  as  with 

Francesco  Sforza  at  Milan,  the  government  was  seized  by  a  condottiere ,  or 

leader  of  mercenary  troops,  who  had  been  employed  by  the  city. 


the  continual 
turmoil  in 
politics, 


1 12 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


the  commer¬ 
cial  activity, 


and  the  sur¬ 
vival  of  the 
classics  in 
Italy. 


but  the  dictatorship  generally  became  permanent 
(1250-1450),  and  the  hereditary  rule  was  vested  in  cer¬ 
tain  families. 

Hence,  throughout  its  mediaeval  history  Italy  had 
undergone  constant  turmoil  in  politics.  There  were 
continual  struggles  with  the  emperor,  conflicts  between 
the  several  cities,  and  civil  strife  in  the  cities  themselves. 
One  result  of  this  political  unrest  was  that  the  citizens 
were  kept  constantly  on  the  outlook  for  their  own  safety 
and  interests,  and  their  wits  were  greatly  sharpened.1 
Even  the  exile,  into  which  one  party  or  another  was  con¬ 
stantly  forced,  had  the  effect  of  broadening  their  vision 
and  bringing  out  the  greatest  possibilities  within  them. 
And  so,  where  birth  counted  for  little,  and  ability  and 
energy  might  at  any  time  win  control,  these  cities  of  Italy 
became  very  democratic  and  independent.  Individualism 
was  greatly  heightened  and  a  natural  opening  afforded 
for  the  Renaissance. 

But  there  was  yet  another  important  factor  in  the 
intellectual  development  of  Italy.  This  is  found  in 
the  commercial  intercourse  of  the  Italian  cities  with  other 
countries,  which,  for  various  physiographic  and  historic 
reasons,  had  become  extraordinarily  active.  The  coast¬ 
line  and  harborage  of  Italy  are,  in  proportion  to  the  area 
of  the  country,  the  greatest  of  any  in  Europe,  and  during 
the  Crusades  the  Italian  cities  obtained  the  most  exten¬ 
sive  trade  relations  that  had  ever  been  known.  Venice, 
Genoa,  and  a  few  other  ports  of  Italy  for  a  time  controlled 
the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  through  these  channels 
unprecedented  wealth  and  luxury  poured  into  the  lap  of 
Europe.  This  commercial  activity  and  contact  with 
different  traditions  had  a  remarkable  intellectual  effect, 
and  tended  to  open  the  minds  of  the  Italians,  break  up 
their  old  conceptions,  free  them  of  prejudice,  and  increase 
their  thirst  for  learning. 

It  should  be  noted,  furthermore,  that  the  ghost  of  the 
classic  ages  still  haunted  its  old  home.  A  knowledge 

1This  intellectual  alertness  was  in  many  instances  heightened  by  the 
necessity  of  drawing  up  or  modifying  the  constitution  of  the  city. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY  113 

of  the  Latin  tongue  had  never  ceased  to  exist  in  Italy, 
and  many  manuscripts  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  authors 
had  been  preserved.1  The  influence  of  the  old  writers 
during  the  Renaissance  was  due  to  what  had  long  been 
known  rather  than  to  the  discovery  of  a  great  deal  that 
was  new.  There  was  needed  in  Italy  only  an  intellec¬ 
tual  quickening  sufficient  to  shake  off  the  thraldom  to 
the  Church  and  produce  an  appreciation  of  classical 
literature  and  culture  in  order  to  bring  back  this  spirit 
of  the  past  into  real  pulsating  life. 

In  this  way,  from  a  combination  of  a  variety  of  forces, 
there  becomes  more  and  more  evident  in  Italy  a  remark¬ 
able  widening  of  the  intellectual,  aesthetic,  and  social 
horizon.  Authority  began  to  give  way  to  independence 
and  reason,  and  the  individual  burst  his  mediaeval  bonds 
and  obtained  faith  in  himself.  “  In  the  Middle  Ages,” 
declares  Burckhardt,  “  human  consciousness  lay  dream¬ 
ing  or  half  awake  beneath  a  common  veil.  The  veil 
was  woven  of  faith,  illusion,  and  childish  prepossession, 
through  which  the  world  and  history  were  seen  clad  in 
strange  hues.  Man  was  conscious  of  himself  only  as 
member  of  a  race,  people,  party,  family,  or  corporation 
—  only  through  some  general  category.  In  Italy  this 
veil  first  melted  into  air ;  man  became  a  spiritual  indi¬ 
vidual,  and  recognized  himself  as  such.  In  the  same 
way  the  Greek  had  once  distinguished  himself  from  the 
barbarian.  At  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  Italy 
began  to  swarm  with  individuality ;  the  charm  laid 
upon  human  personality  was  dissolved ;  and  a  thousand 
figures  meet  us,  each  in  its  own  special  shape  and  dress.” 

Thus  there  was  a  return  to  the  ideals  of  individualism 
that  existed  in  the  classical  civilization,  and  men  of 
many-sided  development  appeared  once  more.  “  When 
this  impulse  to  the  highest  individual  development,” 
adds  the  authority  quoted,  “  was  combined  with  a  power¬ 
ful  and  varied  nature,  which  had  mastered  all  the 

1  There  were  also  occasionally  anachronistic  revivals  of  the  Roman 
senate  and  other  features  of  the  ancient  government.  See  the  revolts  of 
Crescentius  and  of  Arnold  of  Brescia. 

I 


These  vari¬ 
ous  factors 
produced  a 
return  to  in¬ 
dividualism 
and  account 
for  the 
appearance 
of  ‘  many- 
sided  ’  men. 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  earliest 

humanist 

was 

Petrarch, 
who  empha¬ 
sized  the 
present,  self¬ 
development, 
and  indi¬ 
vidualism, 
and  vigor¬ 
ously  op¬ 
posed  the 
mediaeval 
traditions 
and  insti¬ 
tutions. 


114 

elements  of  the  culture  of  the  age,  then  arose  the 
*  all-sided  man  ’  —  /’  uomo  universale  —  who  belonged  to 
Italy  alone.  Men  there  were  of  encyclopaedic  knowl¬ 
edge  in  many  countries  during  the  Middle  Ages,  for  this 
knowledge  was  not  confined  within  narrow  limits.  .  .  . 
But  in  Italy,  at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance,  we  find 
artists  who  in  every  branch  created  new  and  perfect 
works,  and  who  also  made  the  greatest  impression  as 
men.  Others,  outside  the  arts  they  practiced,  were 
masters  of  a  vast  circle  of  spiritual  interests.”  There 
is  not  space  here  to  describe  the  work  of  every  one  of 
these  ‘  all-sided  ’  men,  but  some  of  them  are  of  such 
importance  to  the  history  of  culture  and  education,  as 
theorists  or  practical  men,  that  some  mention  of  them 
cannot  be  omitted. 

Petrarch  and  His  Influence. — Probably  the  man  who 
should  stand  as  the  earliest1  great  humanist  was  Fran¬ 
cesco  Petrarca  (1304-1374),  or  Petrarch ,  as  he  is  com¬ 
monly  called.  In  him  we  find  the  very  embodiment  of 
the  Renaissance  spirit.2  He  completely  repudiates  the 
‘  otherworldly  ’  ideal  of  mediaevalism,  and  is  keenly 
aware  of  the  beauties  and  the  joy  of  this  life.  He 
emphasizes  the  present  and  the  opportunities  for  self¬ 
development  in  this  world.  In  him  appear  the  modern 
desire  for  personal  fame,  and  an  aggressive  faith  in  his 
own  ability  to  gain  it.  There  is  evident  in  him  at  all 
times  a  marked  individualism  and  an  abhorrence  of  an 
appeal  to  authority.  He  does  not  hesitate  to  attack  the 
most  hoary  of  traditions,  and  to  rely  upon  observation, 
investigation,  and  reason.  Hence  he  strongly  reacts 


1  The  world-renowned  Dante ,  who  belonged  to  the  generation  before 
Petrarch,  can  hardly,  despite  his  modern  independence  and  individualistic 
tendencies,  be  considered  a  real  humanist.  The  picture  of  the  future  life 
that  is  portrayed  in  the  Divina  Commedia  and  his  theology  in  general 
are  thoroughly  mediaeval,  and  his  interest  in  Vergil,  Homer,  and  other 
classical  writers,  who  appear  in  his  great  epic,  was  not  unknown  in  other 
works  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Monroe  regards  Dante’s  II  Convito  as  the 
natural  link  between  the  mediaeval  period  and  the  awakening. 

2  See  the  interpretation  of  Petrarch  in  Adams,  Civilization  during  the 
Middle  Ages ,  pp.  375-377. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


115 

from  scholasticism,  and  objects  to  [the  absolute  depend¬ 
ence  upon  Aristotle,  who  had  so  fully  become  the 
philosopher  of  the  Church.  He  says  :  — 

“  I  believe  that  Aristotle  was  a  great  man,  and  that  he  knew 
much  ;  yet  he  was  but  a  man,  and  therefore  something,  nay,  many 
things,  may  have  escaped  him.  I  am  confident,  beyond  a  doubt, 
that  he  was  in  error  all  his  life,  not  only  as  regards  small  matters, 
where  a  mistake  counts  for  little,  but  in  the  most  weighty  questions, 
where  his  supreme  interests  were  involved.”  1 

Likewise,  Petrarch’s  impatience  with  the  conservatism 
and  narrowness  of  the  universities,  which  he  stamps  as 
‘  nests  of  gloomy  ignorance,’  is  vented  in  such  tirades  as 
the  following :  — 

u  The  youth  ascends  the  platform  mumbling  nobody  knows  what. 
The  elders  applaud,  the  bells  ring,  the  trumpets  blare,  the  degree  is 
conferred,  and  he  descends  a  wise  man  who  went  up  a  fool.”2 

Consequently,  he  feels  a  kinship  with  the  thinkers 
and  writers  of  the  past  age,  when  independence,  aes¬ 
thetic  culture,  and  breadth  were  given  more  scope,  and 
holds  that  their  works  must  be  recovered  before  their 
spirit  can  be  continued.  This  led  to  a  tremendous  en¬ 
thusiasm  for  the  Latin  classics,  and,  while  Petrarch  had 
been  bred  to  the  law,  much  of  his  life  was  spent  in 
restoring  ancient  culture.  He  devoted  himself  during 
his  extensive  travels  largely  to  collecting  manuscripts 
of  the  old  Latin  writers,  which  had  previously  been 
widely  scattered,  and  endeavoring  to  repair  in  them  the 
ravages  of  time.  He  likewise  inspired  every  one  he 
met  with  a  desire  to  gather  and  study  the  works  of  the 
classic  authors. 

Petrarch’s  own  works,  too,  whether  literary,  critical, 
or  ethical,  are  naturally  filled  with  the  classic  spirit. 
Besides  the  beautiful  sonnets,  ballads,  and  other  lyrics 
that  appear  in  his  Canzoniere  (‘Collection  of  Songs’), 

1  Petrarch,  De  Sui  Ipsius  et  Multorum  Ignorantia  in  Opera  (1581), 
pp.  1042-1043. 

2  See  Mullinger,  A  History  of  the  University  of  Cambridge ,  Vol.  I, 
p.  382,  note  2. 


He  felt  a 
kinship  with 
the  past  and 
endeavored 
to  restore 
ancient 
culture. 


His  classical 
spirit  was 
shown  in  his 
Epistolce,  De 
Viris  Illus- 
tribus,  and 
Africa . 


He  visited 
many  Ital¬ 
ian  cities 
and  spread 
the  Renais¬ 
sance  spirit. 


Among  those 
inspired  by 
Petrarch  was 
Boccaccio, 
who  wrote  in 
the  classical 
spirit  and  de¬ 
voted  most  of 
his  life  to 
classic 
culture. 


1 16  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

for  which  he  is  especially  known  to  literature,  he  wrote 
a  large  number  of  Latin  works,  which,  while  now  little 
mentioned,  had  the  greatest  effect  upon  the  times. 
Among  other  writings,  he  produced  several  collections 
of  Epistolce  (‘Letters’),  a  work  of  erudition  called  De 
Viris  Illustribus  (‘  On  Famous  Men  ’),  and  an  epic  poem 
on  Scipio  Africanus  known  as  Africa .  Some  of  his 
letters  were  indited  to  Cicero,  Homer,  and  other  classical 
persons  as  if  they  were  still  living. 

The  climax  of  his  career  was  reached  at  the  age  of 
thirty-six.  In  that  year  he  was  invited  by  both  the 
University  of  Rome  and  the  University  "of  Paris  to 
become  their  poet  laureate.  He  chose  to  be  honored 
by  the  former  institution,  and  on  Easter  of  1341  he  was 
publicly  crowned  with  a  laurel  wreath  on  the  Capitol  at 
Rome.  After  this,  he  visited  many  Italian  cities,  and 
was  received  in  honor  by  all.  He  did  much  to  spread 
the  Renaissance  spirit,  and  became  the  literary  and 
scholastic  progenitor  of  a  multitude  that  proved  greater 
than  he.  But,  as  a  modern  authority  has  said,  “  if  he 
was,  before  many  generations,  excelled  in  more  than 
one  respect,  it  was  only  as  the  discoverer  of  the  New 
World  would  ere  long  have  had  to  give  way  before  the 
knowledge  of  a  schoolboy.”1  Thus,  in  the  words  of 
Renan,  Petrarch  was  ‘the  first  modern  man.’2 

Among  the  younger  scholars  and  literary  men  around 
Petrarch  was  Giovanni  Boccaccio  { 13 13-1375).  While  a 
great  admirer  and  correspondent  of  the  elder  humanist, 
Boccaccio  never  met  him  until  the  brief  visit  of  Petrarch 
to  Florence  in  1350.3  Before  this  the  youthful  poet4 
had  resided  at  the  court  of  Naples,  where  literary  men 
were  numerous,  and  had  already  displayed  his  admira¬ 
tion  for  the  ancients,  advanced  far  in  his  classical  studies, 

1  Voigt,  Die  Wiederbelebung  des  classischen  Alterthums ,  Vol.  I,  p.  22, 
quoted  by  Robinson  and  Rolfe,  Petrarch ,  pp.  8-9. 

2  Renan,  Averroes,  p.  328. 

3  See  Petrarcha,  Epistolce  de  Rebus  Familiaribus,  XXI,  15,  and  Epistolce 
de  Rebus  Senilibus ,  V,  3. 

4  Cf.  the  final  phrase  of  the  epitaph  he  wrote  for  himself,  —  studium 
fuit  al?na  poesis. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


II 7 


and  produced  in  Italian  a  number  of  important  ro¬ 
mances,  tales,  and  poems  with  classical  allusions,  of 
which  the  most  famous  is  his  Decamei'one  (‘Ten-Day 
Book  ’).  But  in  Florence  he  developed,  through  the 
influence  of  Petrarch,  a  perfect  passion  for  the  ancient 
writers,  and  devoted  most  of  the  rest  of  his  life  to 
classical  culture.  He  obtained  a  wide  knowledge  of 
the  Latin  writers,  and  searched  out,  preserved,  and  had 
copied  as  many  ancient  manuscripts  as  possible.  So 
keen  was  his  interest  in  the  classics,  that,  upon  visiting 
the  library  at  Monte  Cassino  and  finding  it  neglected 
and  badly  mutilated,  he  is  said  by  a  pupil  to  have  been 
moved  to  tears. 1 

A  younger  humanist  enthused  through  Petrarch’s 
work  was  Gasparino  da  Barzizza  (i  370-143 1).  Barzizza 
earned  a  larger  reputation  for  scholarship  than  either 
Petrarch  or  Boccaccio.  He  became  a  great  collector  of 
the  manuscripts  of  Cicero,  and  was  the  first  to  approach 
the  study  of  that  author  in  a  critical  and  analytic  spirit. 
He  treated  Latin  as  a  living  tongue  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  modify  the  standard  vocabulary  and  style  of  Cicero 
for  the  purposes  of  his  day. 

The  Development  of  Greek  Scholarship.  —  Numerous 
other  humanists  were  descended  from  the  coterie  of 
Petrarch,  but  with  all  this  revival  of  Latin  literature,  for 
some  time  there  was  little  done  with  the  Greek.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  Middle  Ages  that  language  had  almost  disap¬ 
peared  in  Europe,  and  the  greatest  Greek  authors  were 
accessible  only  through  Latin  translations.2  Even  the 
authoritative  philosopher  of  the  Church,  Aristotle,  was 
known  simply  through  a  small  and  unimportant  part 
of  his  writings.  Of  Homer  there  existed  in  Latin  the 
merest  summary  of  the  Iliad,  written  by  Silius  Italicus, 
for  even  the  translation  of  Livius  Andronicus  had  been 

1  See  Benvenuto  on  Dante,  Paradiso ,  XXII,  74  f.,  quoted  in  full  by 
Sandys,  Classical  Scholarship ,  Vol.  II,  p.  13. 

2  Where  the  names  of  Greek  poets  or  philosophers  are  cited  in  mediae¬ 
val  writers,  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  this  knowledge  comes  at  second  hand 
from  the  Latin  versions. 


Barzizza,  the 
most  schol¬ 
arly  of  early 
humanists, 
was  also  en¬ 
thused  by 
Petrarch. 


Attempts 
were  made 
by  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio, 
and  others  to 
learn  Greek, 


II 8  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

lost.  The  other  great  writers,  —  historians,  poets,  and 
orators,  had  fared  even  worse. 

But  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language  and  litera¬ 
ture  still  persisted  in  the  Eastern  empire,  and  the  hu¬ 
manists  of  Italy  were,  through  the  works  of  the  Latin 
authors,  constantly  directed  back  to  the  writings  of  the 
Greeks,  and  became  eager  to  read  them  in  the  original. 
Attempts  were  made  by  several  humanists  to  learn 
Greek.  Greece  and  Constantinople  were  frequently 
visited,  and  active  efforts  made  to  secure  copies  of  the 
Greek  authors.  Petrarch  had  begun  Greek  under  Bar- 
laam,  a  Calabrian  Greek,  who  had  been  sent  as  an 
envoy  from  Constantinople,  but  his  study  of  the  lan¬ 
guage  had  been  interrupted.  Later,  when  a  friend  1  sent 
him  a  copy  of  Homer,  Petrarch  pathetically  wrote:  — 

“  Thy  Homer  is  dumb  to  me,  while  I  most  certainly  am  deaf  to 
him.  Nevertheless,  I  am  delighted  at  the  very  sight  of  him.”  2 

In  the  same  letter  he  thanks  his  friend  also  for  a 
manuscript  of  Plato,  and,  in  an  epistle  to  Boccaccio, 
urged  that  scholar  to  translate  the  Homer  into  Latin.3 
Boccaccio  had  been  able  to  secure  the  guidance  of  a 
pupil  of  Barlaam  named  Leonzio  Pilato,  and  had  thus 
become  the  first  humanist  to  gain  any  real  knowledge 
of  the  Greek  language.  At  the  request  of  Petrarch, 
Pilato  and  Boccaccio  made  a  translation  of  the  Iliad  and 
Odyssey.  While  this  version  was  in  wretched  Latin,  it 
gave  all  of  Homer  to  the  humanists,  and  greatly  en¬ 
couraged  the  study  of  the  Greek  authors. 

Thus,  before  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
teachers  of  Greek  often  came  to  be  invited  to  Italy.  In 
1453  Constantinople  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks, 
and  the  Greek  scholars  fled  to  Italy,  carrying  with  them 
many  treasures  of  literature.  No  labor  or  expense  was 
spared  in  discovering  and  copying  these  manuscripts,  or 
in  multiplying  translations  of  the  Greek  authors.  In 
this  way,  by  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  a 

1  Nicolaus  Syocerus,  another  envoy  from  Constantinople. 

2  See  Epistolce  Varia ,  XX,  p.  998. 

3  Epistolce  De  Rebus  Senilibus,  VI,  p.  807. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY  1 19 

sufficient  number  of  the  Greek,  as  well  as  of  the  Latin, 
classics  was  secured  to  lay  the  foundations  of  modern 
scholarship.  Not  until  then  did  texts  of  the  authors  and 
works  on  inflection  and  syntax  become  common  and 
simple  enough  to  make  Greek  learning  a  part  of  the 
training  of  every  educated  man. 

Chrysoloras  and  His  Pupils.  —  The  first  great  man  of 
learning  to  settle  in  Italy  and  teach  Greek  was  Manuel 
Chrysoloras  (1350-1415).  When  sent  to  Venice  by  the 
Eastern  emperor  in  1393  to  implore  aid  against  the 
Turks,  he  was  besieged  by  the  young  Italian  scholars  to 
give  them  Greek  lessons  during  his  stay.  Three  years 
later, *he  was  invited  to  the  professorship  of  Greek,  which 
the  influence  of  Boccaccio  had  established  at  Florence 
for  Pilato,  and  readily  accepted.  With  shorter  or  longer 
intervals  of  absence,  for  sixteen  years  he  taught  here 
and  in  Pavia,  Venice,  Milan,  Padua,  and  Rome.  He 
started  schools  in  various  cities,  made  a  series  of  trans¬ 
lations  of  Greek  authors,  and  composed  a  work  on  Greek 
grammar  called  Erotemata  (‘  Questions  ’),  which  long 
remained  the  basis  of  Greek  instruction  for  the  Italians. 
From  his  efforts  sprang  several  generations  of  scholars, 
who  made  the  great  works  of  Greek  literature  known 
throughout  Europe.  So,  just  as  the  revival  of  classical 
Latin  had  been  started  by  Petrarch,  a  second  impulse 
was  given  the  Renaissance  through  the  instruction  of 
Chrysoloras  in  Greek. 

Among  the  first  Italian  pupils  of  Chrysoloras  was 
Niccolo  de'  Niccoli  (1364-1437),  who  was  instrumental  in 
inducing  the  Signory  of  Florence  to  call  that  scholar  to 
the  university.  Niccoli  acted  as  literary  minister  to 
Cosimo  de’  Medici,1  and  advised  him  in  his  purchase  of 
manuscripts  and  his  distribution  of  financial  assistance 
to  scholars.  His  biographer2  tells  us  that  “  if  he  heard 
of  any  book  in  Greek  or  Latin  not  to  be  had  in  Florence, 
he  spared  no  cost  in  getting  it ;  the  number  of  the  Latin 


but  not  until 
1396,  when 
Chrysoloras 
settled  in 
Italy,  did  the 
Greek 
classics  be¬ 
come  gener¬ 
ally  known. 


Among  the 
pupils  of 
Chrysoloras 
were  Niccolo 
de’  Niccoli, 
the  literary 
minister  to 
Cosimo  de* 
Medici; 


1  See  p.  122. 

2  Vespasian,  Vita  di  Niccolo ,  p.  473. 


120 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Bruni,  author 
of  De  Studiis 
et  Literis  ; 


Guarino,  who 
trained  a 
number  of 
brilliant  hu¬ 
manists,  in¬ 
cluding 
Vittorino, 
and  opened 
a  court 
school  at 
Ferrara, 


books  which  Florence  owes  entirely  to  his  generosity 
cannot  be  reckoned.”  And  he  allowed  any  one  who 
wished,  to  consult  or  borrow  his  books  or  discuss  them 
with  him.  Before  his  death,  he  had  collected  or  copied 
with  his  own  hand  some  eight  hundred  volumes,  and  be¬ 
queathed  them  for  public  use  to  the  library  of  San  Marco.1 

Another  well-known  pupil  of  Chrysoloras  was  Leo¬ 
nardo  Bruni  (1369-1444).2  He  had  previously  been  a 
student  of  civil  law,  but  upon  the  arrival  of  Chrysoloras 
he  declared  to  himself  that  “there  are  in  every  city 
scores  of  doctors  of  civil  laws  ;  but  should  this  single 
and  unique  teacher  of  Greek  be  removed,  thou  wilt  find 
no  one  to  instruct  thee.”  As  a  result,  Bruni  began  to 
study  under  Chrysoloras.  He  became  devoted  to  Greek 
literature,  and  made  excellent  translations  of  Homer, 
Plato,  Aristotle,  Demosthenes,  Plutarch,  and  other  Greek 
writers.  He  also  left  works  of  his  own  composition, 
including  a  treatise  on  humanistic  education  called  De 
Studiis  et  Literis  (‘  On  the  Study  of  Literature  ’). 

Guarino  da  Verona 3  (1374-1460),  however,  was  the 
most  famous  humanist  to  study  under  Chrysoloras.  For 
five  years  he  was  in  the  home  of  that  scholar  at  Con¬ 
stantinople,  after  Chrysoloras  had  first  returned  from 
Italy.  In  1408  the  young  humanist  came  back,  and, 
through  the  influence  of  Bruni,  started  a  private  school 
of  classics  at  Florence  under  the  patronage  of  Niccoli 
and  other  prominent  citizens.  When  the  University  of 
Florence  was  reopened  four  years  later,  he  was  ap¬ 
pointed  to  the  professorship  of  Greek  previously  held  by 
Chrysoloras.  Here  and  at  Venice  and  Padua  he  trained 
in  Greek  a  number  of  brilliant  young  scholars,  including 
Vittorino.  In  middle  life,  Guarino  undertook  the  train¬ 
ing  of  Leonello,  son  of  Niccolo  d’Este,  the  Marquis  of 

1  Half  of  the  volumes  were  placed  in  the  Marcian  collection,  but  the 
other  half  were  kept  by  Cosimo  for  the  Medicean  library.  See  Symonds, 
The  Revival  of  Learning ,  pp.  1 73-1 74. 

2  Sometimes  called  d’ Arezzo  or  Aretino  from  his  birthplace. 

3  He  was  usually  known  as  da  Verona  or  Veronese  from  his  birthplace, 
but  he  was  also  called  Guarino  dei  Guar  ini. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


1 2  I 


Ferrara,  but  was  allowed  to  receive  other  youths  into  the 
school.  Thus  a  species  of  court  school  was  founded 
which  was  continued  even  after  a  university  was  opened 
at  Ferrara,  and  Guarino  was  made  one  of  the  professors. 

From  Guarino’s  teaching  came  many  distinguished 
and  scholarly  humanists.  Among  them  was  his  son,  the 
brilliant  Battista  Guarino  (1434-15 13),  who  succeeded 
to  his  chair  at  Ferrara  and  continued  his  methods.  This 
younger  Guarino  at  twenty-five  wrote  a  well-known 
treatise  on  humanistic  education  called  De  Ordine 
Docendi  et  Studendi  (‘  On  the  Method  of  Teaching  and 
Studying  ’). 

Other  famous  humanists  to  feel  the  influence  of 
Chrysoloras  were  Braccolini  Poggio  (1380-1459),  who, 
through  the  patronage  of  Niccoli,  was  rivaled  only  by 
Guarino  as  a  finder  of  manuscripts,  and  Francesco  Filelfo 
(1398-1481),  who  had  been  trained  in  Latin  by  Barzizza, 
and  in  turn  had  among  his  pupils  the  two  great 
humanist  popes,  Nicholas  V  and  Pius  II.  But  probably 
the  most  remarkable  pupil  of  Chrysoloras  was  Pietro 
Paolo  Vergerio  (1349-1420),  or  Vergerius.  Although 
already  one  of  the  most  learned  scholars  of  the  day,  he 
did  not  disdain  at  fifty  years  of  age  to  sit  with  the 
youths  at  the  feet  of  the  great  Byzantine  scholar.  A 
few  years  after  studying  with  Chrysoloras  he  wrote  the 
most  widely  read  treatise  on  the  humanistic  education, 
De  Ingenuis  Moribus  et  Studiis  Liberalibus  (‘  On  Noble 
Character  and  Liberal  Studies  ’). 

The  City  Tyrants  as  Humanists  and  Founders  of  Edu¬ 
cation.  —  Thus  during  the  fifteenth  century  there  ap¬ 
peared  a  host  of  famous  humanists,  skilled  both  in  Latin 
and  Greek.  A  powerful  support  to  the  efforts  of  these 
scholars  resulted  from  the  rivalry  of  the  Italian  cities. 
The  tyrant  in  control  of  each  place  was  keenly  aware 
of  his  usurpation  and  the  illegitimacy  of  his  title,  and 
had  to  rely  largely  upon  city  pride  to  maintain  his  power. 
“With  his  thirst  of  fame  and  his  passion  for  monu¬ 
mental  works,  it  was  talent,  not  birth,  which  he  needed. 
In  the  company  of  the  poet  and  scholar,  he  felt  himself 


where  he  was 
succeeded  by 
his  son, 
Battista ; 


and  Poggio, 
Filelfo,  and 
the  learned 
Vergerio. 


The  city  ty¬ 
rants  fostered 
humanism  to 
add  luster  to 
their  rule. 


122 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Gian  Gale- 
azzo  Visconti 
founded  a 
library  and 
university  ; 
Cosimo  de’ 
Medici  sup¬ 
ported  hu¬ 
manistic 
scholars, 
established  a 
‘  Platonic 
Academy,’ 
and  founded 
the  Medicean 
library;  and 
Lorenzo  de’ 
Medici  pro¬ 
cured  manu¬ 
scripts  and 
maintained 
scholars  and 
artists. 


in  a  new  position,  almost,  indeed,  in  possession  of  a  new 
legitimacy.”  1  In  order  to  appeal  to  a  people  of  intel¬ 
lectual  acumen  and  classical  enthusiasm,  he  was  forced 
to  do  everything  possible  to  propagate  the  humanistic 
movement  and  make  his  city  illustrious. 

Perhaps  the  most  typical  examples  of  these  humanist 
princes  are  found  among  the  Visconti  at  Milan  and  the 
Medici  at  Florence.  The  former  extended  their  power 
over  northern  Italy  and  culminated  with  the  brilliant, 
though  corrupt,  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti  (1378-1402). 
He  founded  a  library  at  Pavia,  reorganized  the  univer¬ 
sity  at  Piacenza,  and  was  generally  a  liberal  patron  of 
art,  literature,  and  scholarship.  The  Medici  showed  a 
similar  interest  in  humanism,  and  made  their  power 
secure  in  this  way  even  more  than  through  political 
ability.  Cosimo  de *  Medici  (1389-1464),  the  first  to  rule 
Florence  and  the  founder  of  the  dynasty,  sympathized 
greatly  with  scholars,  and,  through  Niccoli,  furnished 
them  with  the  means  of  forwarding  their  ambitions.2 
It  was  in  his  time  that  Gemisthos  Pletho  was  induced  to 
come  from  Greece  and  establish  the  Platonic  Academy 
in  Florence.  Cosimo  also  projected  a  great  public 
library,  and  within  two  years  had  forty-five  authors  in 
two  hundred  volumes  copied  from  libraries  at  Milan, 
Bologna,  and  elsewhere.  These  books  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  famous  Medicean  library ,  which  its 
founder  left  with  a  collection  of  some  eight  thousand 
volumes.3  Cosimo  had  a  worthy  successor  in  his  grand¬ 
son,  Lorenzo  de ’  Medici  (1448-1492),  ordinarily  known 
as  il  Magnifico  (‘  the  Magnificent’).  Lorenzo  was  a 
model  prince,  humanist,  and  public  benefactor.  He 
encouraged  Greek  learning  and  twice  sent  an  agent  to 
Greece  to  procure  manuscripts.  To  give  luster  to  his 
rule,  he  gathered  about  him  and  maintained  a  famous 

1  Burckhardt,  The  Civilization  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy ,  p.  9. 

2  See  pp.  1 19  f. 

3  See  Vespasiano,  Vita  di  Cosimo ,  cc.  XII,  seqq. 

This  library,  also  called  the  Laurentian  from  its  proximity  to  the 
Church  of  San  Lorenzo,  to-day  contains  about  twelve  thousand  manu¬ 
scripts,  many  of  which  are  important  and  valuable  to  classical  scholars. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


123 


circle  of  humanists  and  artists,  including  Politian,  Miran- 
dola,  da  Vinci,  and  Michael  Angelo. 

But,  besides  the  Visconti  and  the  Medici,  Federigo 
da  Montefeltro ,  who  had  assumed  the  title  of  Duke 
of  Urbino,  Francesco  da  Carrara ,  Lord  of  Padua, 
Niccolo  d'  Este>  Marquis  of  Ferrara,  Alfonso  of  Naples , 
and  other  princes  later  showed  a  like  activity  in  for¬ 
warding  the  new  learning  and  culture,  and  in  attract¬ 
ing  scholars  to  their  courts.  The  humanists  would 
otherwise  have  found  it  difficult  to  maintain  themselves, 
as  they  were  not  for  some  time  encouraged  to  teach  in 
the  universities,  and  could  not  hope  to  make  a  living 
from  writing  books.  Their  only  prospect  lay  in  the 
patronage  of  one  of  the  princes,  who  were  able  to  use 
both  their  private  resources  and  the  funds  of  their  cities. 

The  Court  School  at  Mantua  and  Vittorino  da  Feltre.  — 
In  some  instances  these  court  circles  promoted  the  new 
learning  informally,  but  often,  where  a  scholar  had  been 
taken  into  the  family  of  a  prince  as  a  private  tutor,  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  neighboring  aristocracy  were  associated  and 
a  regular  school  was  started.  Court  schools  of  this  sort 
soon  existed  at  Florence,  Venice,  Padua,  Pavia,  Verona, 
Ferrara,  and  several  other  cities.  The  most  famous  of 
these  schools  was  that  organized  by  Vittorino  da  Feltre 1 
(1378-1446)  at  Mantua. 

Vittorino  had  been  trained  at  Padua  in  the  very  home 
of  Barzizza,  the  greatest  of  living  Latinists,  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  humanistic  ideas 2  and  example  of 
Vergerius.  When  he  had  obtained  his  degree,  he  re¬ 
mained  in  Padua  and  studied  mathematics  under  the 
ablest  of  private  masters.  In  1415,  after  staying  in 
Padua  as  student  and  teacher  for  nearly  a  score  of 
years,  he  took  up  Greek  with  Guarino  in  Venice.  Five 
years  later  he  returned  to  Padua,  where  he  received 

1  His  name  was  really  Vittore  dai  Rambaldoni,  but  he  was  generally 
known  as  da  Feltre  from  the  town  of  his  birth.  Feltre  was  in  northeast 
Italy,  near  Venice. 

2  For  the  treatise  of  Vergerius  on  humanistic  education,  see  pp.  1 21  and 
131  f. 


Schools  grew 
up  at  the 
courts  of 
these  tyrants. 


The  best 
known  of 
these  schools 
was  that  es¬ 
tablished  by 
the  Marquis 
of  Mantua 
under  the 
mastership  of 
the  famous 
humanistic 
scholar, 
Vittorino 
da  Feltre. 


124 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


pupils  in  his  own  house  and  looked  after  their  morals 
as  well  as  instructed  them  in  the  humanities. 

Thus  when  he  was  called  at  forty-five  to  found  a 
school  for  the  children  of  Gianfrancesco  Gonzaga ,  Mar¬ 
quis  of  Mantua,  Vittorino  had  received  the  best  possible 
education  of  the  times  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics, 
and  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  as  a  teacher  and 
a  man  of  piety.  The  marquis  wished  to  secure  a  lead¬ 
ing  humanist  to  add  luster  to  his  court,  and,  failing  to 
induce  Guarino,  turned  to  the  other  great  light,  whom 
Guarino  himself  had  recommended.  Vittorino  disliked 
courts  and  the  morals  of  court  life,  but  finally  replied :  — 

“  I  accept  the  appointment,  on  this  understanding  only,  that  you 
require  from  me  nothing  which  shall  be  in  any  way  unworthy  of 
either  of  us :  and  I  will  continue  to  serve  you  as  long  as  your  own 
life  shall  command  respect.” 


The  school 
was  located 
in  the  most 
pleasant  sur¬ 
roundings, 
and  the 
pupils  were 
under  the 
immediate 
supervision 
of  Vittorino. 


These  conditions  were  granted  and  were  abided  by 
until  the  day  of  Vittorino’s  death,  twenty-three  years 
later.  The  marquis  and  his  wife  allowed  him  to  shape 
the  school  exactly  as  he  wished,  and  granted  him  sup¬ 
port  and  sympathy  in  every  move. 

The  location  of  the  school  was  ideal.  It  occupied  a 
former  pleasure-house  situated  on  a  little  eminence  in 
the  park  surrounding  the  palace.  The  building  was  large 
and  dignified,  and  most  handsomely  proportioned.  Inside, 
the  rooms  were  high,  and  the  corridors  broad,  although, 
to  give  the  place  a  studious  atmosphere,  Vittorino  had 
stripped  it  of  its  sumptuous  furnishings.  The  beautiful 
meadows  surrounding  furnished  an  ample  and  attrac¬ 
tive  playground.  By  an  adaptation  of  the  former  name, 
Vittorino  most  happily  called  the  school  La  Casa  Giocosa 
(‘The  Pleasant  House’).1  Vittorino  and  the  princes 
lived  in  the  schoolhouse,  and  scions  of  the  leading 
Mantuan  families,  together  with  the  sons  of  Vittorino’s 
personal  friends2  and  promising  boys  of  every  de- 


1  This  was  simply  a  play  upon  the  former  name  of  La  Casa  Zoyosa 
(‘  House  of  Pleasure  ’). 

2  Among  others  were  the  sons  of  such  distinguished  scholars  as  Guarino, 
Poggio,  and  Filelfo. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


125 


gree,1  who  were  received  into  the  school  at  his  request, 
dwelt  near  enough  to  be  under  his  immediate  supervision. 
He  was  most  strict  in  his  selection  of  masters  and  of  at¬ 
tendants,  that  the  morals  of  the  pupils  might  be  of  the 
highest.  Likewise,  the  ‘  father  of  his  scholars,’  as  Vit- 
torino  held  himself  to  be,  looked  out  for  their  food, 
clothing,  and  health,  and  shared  in  their  games,  interests, 
and  pleasures.  It  was  the  intention  of  Vittorino  to 
secure  for  his  pupils  that  harmonious  development  of 
mind,  body,  and  morals  that  the  old  Greeks  had 
known  as  a  ‘liberal  education.’  He  emphasized  the 
practical  and  social  side  of  the  individual’s  efficiency, 
and  wished  to  prepare  his  pupils  for  a  life  of  activity 
and  service,  and  not  merely  to  create  rhetoricians  and 
pedants.  As  a  pupil  of  his  put  it,  his  desire  was  to 
educate  young  men  “  who  should  serve  God  and  state 
in  whatever  position  they  should  be  called  upon  to 
occupy.” 

To  accomplish  this,  Vittorino  felt  that  the  best  sub¬ 
jects  were  those  connected  with  the  grammatical  and 
literary  study  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers.  The 
pupils  learned  to  converse  in  Latin  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  and  there  were  games  with  letters  for  the  youngest 
and  simple  exercises  to  train  them  in  clear  articulation 
and  proper  accent  and  emphasis.  Also,  before  the 
boys  were  ten,  they  were  drilled  in  memorizing  and 
reciting  with  intelligence  the  easier  portions  of  classic 
authors.  This  elocutionary  work,  which  was  increased 
in  length  and  difficulty  as  the  boys  grew  older,  gave 
them  an  excellent  grasp  of  vocabulary,  rhythm,  and 
style. 

As  they  advanced,  the  pupils  read  a  variety  of  Latin 
writers,  and  soon  took  up  Greek.  They  then  carried  on 
a  study  of  the  Hellenic  poets,  orators,  and  historians, 
and  continued  those  of  Rome.  The  Church  Fathers,  both 
Latin  and  Greek,  were  also  studied.  Thus  every  class 

1  Each  pupil  paid  in  proportion  to  his  means;  the  poorest,  of  whom 
there  were  sometimes  as  many  as  seventy,  were  not  only  taught  free,  but 
even  clothed  and  boarded  without  charge. 


He  aimed 
at  a  harmon 
ious  develop 
ment  of 
mind,  body, 
and  morals ; 


by  means  of 
a  broad 
study  of  the 
classics, 


126 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


though 
largely 
through 
dictation  ; 


by  games 
and  physical 
exercises ; 
and  by 
moral  and 
religious  pre¬ 
cept  and 
example. 


of  subject  matter  was  obtained  from  the  classical  and 
patristic  writers,  and  even  the  study  of  the  seven  liberal 
arts  was  retained,  although  with  a  different  relative  im¬ 
portance  and  a  new  interpretation  as  to  content.  The 
mathematical  subjects  were  especially  enlarged  in  scope, 
and  taught  in  connection  with  drawing,  mensuration,  sur¬ 
veying,  and  other  applications.  Because  of  the  lack  of 
books,  the  teaching  was  carried  on  largely  by  dictation. 
The  works  of  Guarino  and  Chrysoloras  gave  the  pupils 
some  command  of  inflections,  but  their  knowledge  of 
vocabulary,  idiom,  and  syntax  had  to  be  acquired  induc¬ 
tively.  The  master  usually  dictated  the  vocabulary  and 
inflections  of  the  passage,  then  translated  and  explained 
it,  commented  on  the  style,  and  drew  moral  lessons  from 
the  subject  matter.  There  was,  further,  a  careful  drill 
in  Latin  and  Greek  composition  and  in  translating  from 
Latin  into  Greek. 

As  we  have  noted,  physical  and  moral  education  were 
insisted  upon  quite  as  fully  as  intellectual.  Vittorino 
introduced  especially  fencing,  wrestling,  dancing,  ball¬ 
playing,  running,  and  leaping,  in  all  of  which  he  was 
himself  an  expert.  The  purpose  of  these,  however,  was 
to  aid  and  stimulate  the  mental  powers.  Likewise,  he 
believed  that  there  could  be  no  true  education  without 
religion,  and  both  by  precept  and  example  inculcated 
piety,  reverence,  and  religious  observances.  As  it  has 
been  pointed  out,  the  Christian  authors,  especially  Au¬ 
gustine,  were  largely  read,  but  Vittorino  believed  that 
truth  and  moral  beauty  could  be  derived  also  from  the 
classic  writings.  The  use  of  dictation  enabled  him  to 
expurgate  at  will,  and  throughout  he  chose  the  passages 
to  be  read  with  reference  to  character  building. 

But  the  general  method  of  Vittorino  was  the  most 
notable  feature  of  his  school.  He  was  completely  ab¬ 
sorbed  in  his  pupils.  He  carefully  studied  their  ability, 
interests,  and  the  career  contemplated  by  each.  He 
has  been  quoted  as  saying  :  — 

“We  are  not  to  expect  that  every  boy  will  display  the  same  tastes 
or  the  same  degree  of  mental  capacity;  and,  whatever  our  own 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


127 


predilection  may  be,  we  recognize  that  we  must  follow  Nature’s  lead. 
Now  she  has  endowed  no  one  with  aptitude  for  all  kinds  of  knowl¬ 
edge,  very  few,  indeed,  have  talent  in  three  or  four  directions,  but 
every  one  has  received  some  gift,  if  only  we  can  discover  it.” 

On  the  basis  of  this  conception,  Vittorino  selected  the 
studies  and  method  best  suited  to  each  intelligence,  and 
thus  inaugurated  a  thoroughly  elastic  course  for  the 
school.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  not  remarkable 
that  the  discipline  of  the  school  was  mild,  and  corporal 
punishment  was  almost  unknown.  The  appellation  of 
‘  Pleasant  House  ’  must  have  seemed  to  the  pupils  to  be 
no  misnomer. 

Thus  Vittorino’s  was  the  most  potent  influence  upon 
the  educational  practice  of  the  times.  He  introduced  the 
wider  curriculum  and  brought  out  the  real  spirit  and  indi¬ 
vidualism  of  the  classics.  He  saw  the  important  rela¬ 
tion  of  the  physical  to  the  mental,  the  necessity  for  moral 
and  religious  elements  in  education,  and  carried  out  the 
Greek  ideal  of  harmonious  development.  Intuitively, 
he  anticipated  much  of  modern  pedagogical  theory, 
especially  in  his  regard  for  the  personality  of  the  stu¬ 
dent.  Questions  of  aim,  content,  and  method  that  were 
in  a  state  of  flux  when  he  began  his  work  at  Mantua 
were  definitely  settled  before  his  death.  Vittorino  natu¬ 
rally  made  a  profound  impression  upon  all  his  contem¬ 
poraries  and  pupils,  and  educated  a  large  number  of 
distinguished  ecclesiastics,  statesmen,  scholars,  teachers, 
and  rulers.  Well  might  his  successor,  Platina,  declare 
that  “the  death  of  this  man  was  a  bitter  grief  not 
merely  to  a  single  state,  but  to  all  Greece  and  Italy.” 

The  Relation  of  the  Court  Schools  to  the  Universi¬ 
ties.  —  Such  were  the  court  school  at  Mantua  and  the 
educational  work  of  the  greatest  schoolmaster  of  the 
early  Renaissance.  The  description  has  been  given 
somewhat  in  detail,  because  the  training  of  the  Mantuan 
school  is  broadly  typical  of  that  at  the  other  court 
schools,  and  of  the  Renaissance  education  in  general. 
The  school  of  Guarino  at  Ferrara,1  for  instance,  differed 

1  See  pp.  120  f. 


Vittorino 
thus  broad¬ 
ened  the 
curriculum, 
revived  the 
Greek  ‘  har¬ 
monious  de* 
velopment,’ 
and  antici¬ 
pated  much 
in  modern 
theory.  He 
made  a  pro¬ 
found  im¬ 
pression  on 
the  times. 


The  Man¬ 
tuan  school 
was  typical 
of  many 
other  court 
schools. 


128 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


These 

schools  soon 
rivaled  or 
supple¬ 
mented  the 
universities, 
which  gradu¬ 
ally  took  up 
the  new 
learning. 


slightly  in  aim  and  curriculum,  but  it  made  use  very 
largely  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  literature,  and  recog¬ 
nized  the  importance  of  physical  and  moral,  as  well  as 
intellectual,  training  in  the  making  of  a  well-rounded 
man. 

These  court  schools,  while  taking  pupils  very  early, 
often  retained  them  until  they  were  twenty-one,  and 
covered  as  much,  if  not  more,  ground  than  the  arts 
course  of  the  universities.  They  were,  in  a  way,  com¬ 
petitors  of  the  older  institutions.  A  student  might,  for 
the  sake  of  a  degree,  go  from  a  court  school  to  the 
university,  but,  as  a  rule,  if  what  he  wished  were  a 
general  course,1  he  would  be  satisfied  with  the  greater 
prestige  that  came  from  being  a  pupil  of  one  of  the 
distinguished  humanists  that  the  court  schools  were 
generally  able  to  retain  at  their  head. 

In  fact,  the  want  of  hospitality,  if  not  the  actual 
hostility,  of  universities  to  the  new  learning,  often 
stimulated  the  growth  of  court  schools.  At  Mantua 
there  was  no  university,  and  the  court  school  re¬ 
mained  independent,  while  the  school  of  Guarino,  nec¬ 
essarily  from  the  connection  of  that  scholar,  always 
had  close  relations  with  the  University  of  Ferrara,  but 
in  many  instances  where  the  university  was  especially 
conservative,  a  court  school  was  set  up  by  its  side  as  a 
professed  rival.  Gradually,  however,  the  new  learning 
crept  into  all  the  universities,  and  the  classical  literature 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  largely  took  the  place  of  the 
former  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectic.  Before  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Florence,  Padua,  Pavia, 
Milan,  Ferrara,  Rome,  and  other  cities  had  admitted  the 
humanities  to  their  universities,  and  the  other  university 
seats  were  not  long  in  following  their  example. 

Attitude  of  the  Humanists  toward  the  Church.  —  It 
would  seem  that  some  of  the  humanists  were  able  to 
combine  the  pagan  culture  with  their  Christian  princi¬ 
ples.  Such  was  the  case  with  Vergerius,  Bruni,  Guarino, 

1  If  he  desired  a  professional  training  in  law,  medicine,  or  theology,  he 
would,  of  course,  be  obliged  to  go  to  a  university. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


129 


and  Vittorino,  who  sought  to  use  the  ancient  learning, 
together  with  the  Christian  writers,  as  a  means  of  teach¬ 
ing  morals.  But  the  implications  of  humanism  were 
logically  destructive  of  Church  dogma  and  tradition,  if 
not  of  all  Christianity.  With  some  humanists  the  new 
learning  really  resulted  in  a  revival  of  paganism  and  a 
repudiation  of  the  Church.  This  seems  to  have  been 
true  at  least  of  Poggio  and  Filelfo,  and  partially  so  of 
Valla,  who  were  inclined  to  substitute  humanism  for 
Catholic  allegiance.  Valla  (1407-1457),1  who  was  the 
most  learned  of  the  humanists  and  the  first  great 
critical  scholar  in  the  modern  sense,  even  went  so 
far  in  his  opposition  as  to  deny  the  apostolic  origin 
of  the  Symbolum  Apostolicum  (‘Apostles’  Creed’),  to 
declare  the  Constantini  Donatio  (‘Donation  of  Con¬ 
stantine  ’)2  a  forgery,  and,  in  his  Adnotationes ,  to  subject 
Jerome’s  Vulgate  translation  of  the  New  Testament  to 
a  critical  comparison  with  the  Greek  original. 

But  very  few  ventured  to  attack  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  so  directly,  or  to  give  vent  to  the  skepticism 
they  felt.  The  majority  were  genuinely  indifferent,  or 
stayed  in  outward  conformity  to  the  dogmas,  with  a 
complete  irreligion  within.3  In  fact,  many  who  were 
enthusiastic  supporters  of  the  new  learning  and  were  of 
pagan  disposition  attained  to  places  of  great  prominence 
in  the  Church.  Two  pupils  of  the  skeptical  Filelfo  even 
came  to  the  papal  throne  as  Nicholas  V  (1398-1455) 
and  Pius  II  (1405-1464).  The  former,  when  only  a 
monk,  went  deeply  into  debt  to  secure  manuscripts  of 
the  classical  authors,  but  was  given  financial  assistance 
by  Cosimo  de’  Medici.  After  his  elevation  he  used  the 

1  Lorenzo  della  Valle,  generally  known  as  Laurentius  Valla,  was  for  a 
short  time  a  pupil  of  Vittorino  at  Mantua,  and  became  an  itinerant  pro¬ 
fessor  of  philosophy  and  classics  at  Pavia,  Milan,  Genoa,  Ferrara,  Mantua, 
and  Naples. 

2  This  was  a  document  by  which  the  emperor  Constantine  was  alleged 
to  have  given  the  pope  temporal  power  over  Italy,  in  return  for  a  miracu¬ 
lous  cure  from  leprosy. 

3  On  this  phase  of  the  revival,  see  especially  Owen’s  Skeptics  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance. 


Some  of  the 
humanists 
repudiated 
the  Church 
and  revived 
paganism ; 


Valla,  most 
learned  of 
humanists, 
was  far- 
reaching  in 
his  criticism. 


Most 

humanists, 
however,  re¬ 
mained  in 
outward  con¬ 
formity,  and 
some,  like 
Nicholas  V 
and  Pius  II, 
even  became 
very  promi¬ 
nent  in  the 
Church. 


K 


130 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Bembo  was 
probably  the 
most  devoted 
humanist 
among 
churchmen. 


The  ‘  liberal 
education  ’  of 
the  ancients 
became  the 
ideal  of  the 
humanistic 
training. 


money  that  came  in  from  the  papal  jubilee  of  1450  to 
make  the  collection  from  which  the  Vatican  library 
sprang,1  and  was  obviously  more  interested  in  classical 
works  and  scholarship  than  in  theology  and  the  Church. 
So  Pius  II,  while  still  A. inea  Silvio ,  or  ASneas  Sylvius , 
wrote  a  treatise  on  the  humanistic  training  known  as 
De  Liberorum  Educatione  (‘  On  the  Education  of  Chil¬ 
dren  ’).  He  was  also  the  author  of  many  poems,  novels, 
comedies,  orations,  and  letters  in  the  classical  style, 
although,  upon  his  election  to  the  pontificate,  he  aban¬ 
doned  the  humanists  and  his  former  liberalism. 

The  most  extreme  devotion  to  humanism  in  a  church 
official,  however,  is  exhibited  in  the  case  of  the  papal 
secretary,  Pietro  Bembo  (1470-1547).  He  was  accom¬ 
plished,  amiable,  and  worldly,  and  while  a  collector  of 
classical  books  and  manuscripts  and  an  author  of  many 
works,  slavishly  imitated  Cicero  in  all  his  style  and  com¬ 
pletely  reverted  to  paganism.  He  used  Jupiter  Maximus 
as  the  designation  of  God  the  Father,  Apollo  for  Christ, 
and  divi  to  indicate  the  saints,2  and  warned  his  colleague 
Sadoleto  to  “avoid  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  lest  the  style  of 
the  Apostle  should  spoil  his  taste.”  Bembo  was,  how¬ 
ever,  only  typical  of  the  degenerate  humanism  of  the 
times.  He  was  the  literary  ruler  at  the  brilliant  court 
of  Leo  X  (1513- 1521),  who,  though  pope,  was  a  true 
son  of  his  father,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  in  his  love 
of  art,  ancient  literature,  and  paganism.  Humanism 
had  now  hardened  into  a  formalism,  and  the  prevailing 
tendency  had  come  to  be  that  known  as  ‘  Ciceronianism.’ 

Ideals  of  the  Humanistic  Education.  —  But  during  its 
height  Italian  humanism  evidently  tended  to  encourage 
personal  development  and  individual  expression  rather 
than  authority.  From  our  study  of  the  various  Italian 
humanists  and  their  work,  it  has  been  possible  to  see 
how  different  were  the  ideals  from  those  of  the  medi- 


1  See  Vespasiano,  Vita  di  Niccolo  V,  cc.  XXV,  seqq. 

2  It  is  probably  Bembo  at  whom  Erasmus  is  tilting  in  his  Dialogus 
Ciceronianus ,  when  he  satirizes  the  paganized  description  of  Christian 
conceptions.  See  Miss  Scott’s  translation,  pp.  66-71. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY  13 1 

aeval  period.  Life  was  no  longer  viewed  in  prescribed 
and  formal  fashion,  and  education  had  a  far  wider  out¬ 
look  than  merely  on  its  ecclesiastical  and  theological 
sides.  The  ‘  otherworldly  ’  ideal  had  given  way  to  the 
Graeco-Roman  aim  of  securing  as  much  satisfaction  as 
possible  out  of  this  life.  The  isolation  of  the  monk, 
the  contemplation  of  the  mystic,  and  the  discussions  of 
the  schoolmen  were  being  abandoned,  and  there  was  a 
marked  tendency  to  return  to  the  conception  of  a  ‘liberal 
education  ’  portrayed  by  Plato,  Aristotle,  Cicero,  and 
others  of  the  ancients. 

The  various  educational  treatises  of  the  times  by  such 
men  as  Vergerius,  Bruni,  Barbaro,  Aineas  Sylvius,  Bat¬ 
tista  Guarino,  Vegio,  and  Porcia,  and  the  pedagogical 
procedure  of  the  great  schoolmasters,  Guarino  da 
Verona  and  Vittorino  da  Feltre,  alike  show  a  remark¬ 
able  agreement  in  respect  to  this  aim  of  education. 
They  all  hold  to  the  ideal  of  a  well-rounded  man,  fitted 
for  the  society  in  which  he  is  living  and  adapted  to  its 
institutions.  They  advocate  complete  development  of 
the  individual,  mentally,  physically,  and  morally.  Ver¬ 
gerius,  for  example,  recommends  “  that  education  which 
calls  forth,  trains,  and  develops  those  highest  gifts  of 
body  and  of  mind  which  ennoble  men,  and  which  are 
rightly  judged  to  rank  next  in  dignity  to  virtue  only.”  1 
This  was  certainly  the  practice  of  Vittorino  and  the 
Mantuan  school. 

At  the  same  time,  the  practical  side  of  this  individual 
development  was  duly  emphasized.  The  humanists  felt 
that  culture  and  breadth  of  view  were  not  ends  in  them¬ 
selves,  but  were  to  be  developed  for  the  sake  of  citizen¬ 
ship  or  efficiency  in  statecraft.  Thus  Aineas  Sylvius 
quotes  Cicero  as  reproaching  Sextus  Pompey  for  too 
great  devotion  to  abstract  studies,  and  declares :  — 

“  His  reason  was  that  the  true  praise  of  men  lies  in  doing ,  and 
that,  consequently,  all  ingenious  trifling,  however  harmless  in  itself, 
which  withdraws  our  energies  from  fruitful  activity,  is  unworthy  of 
the  true  citizen.”2 


The  human¬ 
istic  theory 
and  practice 
held  to  the 
complete 
development 
of  the  indi¬ 
vidual, 
mentally, 
physically, 
and  morally, 


which  in¬ 
cluded  social 
efficiency, 


1  De  Ingenuis  Moribus ,  §  3. 

2  De  Liberorum  Educatione ,  §  8. 


132 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  even 
personal  dis¬ 
tinction. 


This  was 
thought  to 
be  obtained 
through  a 
broad  study 
of  the  clas¬ 
sics. 


Again,  Vittorino  alludes  to  this  sentiment  of  Cicero 
in  consoling  his  friend,  Ambrogio,  for  his  want  of  leisure 
for  study,  resulting  from  administrative  duties.  A  simi¬ 
lar  view  is  attributed  by  Vergerius  to  Aristotle.1 

This  practical  view,  however,  while  it  included  a  de¬ 
sire  for  personal  distinction  and  the  modern  notion  of 
individual  reputation  and  glory,  did  not  limit  itself  to 
mere  material  success,  and  nothing  is  more  decried  than 
sordidness  and  pleasure-seeking.  “  For  to  a  vulgar 
temper,”  says  Vergerius,  “gain  and  pleasure  are  the 
one  aim  of  existence,  to  a  lofty  nature,  moral  worth  and 
fame.”2 

The  Content  of  the  Humanistic  Education.  —  This  lofti¬ 
ness  of  purpose,  breadth  of  view,  and  efficiency,  the 
humanists  believed,  is  to  be  obtained  primarily  through 
the  ancient  literatures.  “The  foundations  of  all  true 
learning  must  be  laid  in  the  sound  and  thorough  knowl¬ 
edge  of  Latin,”  writes  Bruni.3  To  this  he  would  proba¬ 
bly  have  added,  with  Battista  Guarino :  “  I  wish  now  to 
indicate  a  second  mark  of  an  educated  man,  which  is  at 
least  of  equal  importance ;  namely,  familiarity  with  the 
language  and  literature  of  Greece.  .  .  .  Without  a 
knowledge  of  Greek,  Latin  scholarship  itself  is,  in  any 
real  sense,  impossible.”  4 

But  while  the  value  in  these  classic  languages  did  not 
consist  merely  of  a  drill  in  grammar,  this  subject  was 
regarded  as  very  essential,  simply  because  it  was  a  key 
to  unlock  the  literature.  “To  attain  this  essential 
knowledge,”  Bruni  claims,  “we  must  never  relax  our 
careful  attention  to  the  grammar  of  the  language,”  3 
while  Aeneas  Sylvius  calls  grammar  “  the  portal  to  all 
knowledge  whatsoever.” 5  In  every  case,  however,  a 
wide  range  of  reading  in  the  literature  was  recom¬ 
mended.  Cicero,  Vergil,  Livy,  Sallust,  Curtius,  Horace, 
Quintilian,  Statius,  Ovid,  Terence,  and  Juvenal  on  the 
one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  Homer,  Hesiod,  Theocritus, 


1  Op.  cit .,  §  4. 

2  Op.  cit.,  §  3. 


8  De  Studiis,  §  I. 

4  De  Or  dine  Docendi ,  §  3. 


6  Op.  cit.,  §  5. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


133 


Plato,  Aristotle,  and  the  dramatists  and  historians,  seem 
to  have  been  generally  used  in  the  humanistic  course. 
“That  high  standard  of  education  to  which  I  referred  at 
the  outset,”  says  Bruni,  “is  only  to  be  reached  by  one 
who  has  seen  many  things  and  read  much.  Poet,  orator, 
historian,  and  the  rest,  all  must  be  studied,  each  must 
contribute  a  share.  Our  learning  thus  becomes  full, 
ready,  varied,  and  elegant,  available  for  action  or  dis¬ 
course  in  all  subjects.”  1 

This  material  was  held  to  be  valuable  also  for  moral 
and  religious  training,  as  well  as  intellectual  and  aes¬ 
thetic,  and  Bruni  adds:  “None  have  more  claim  than 
the  subjects  and  authors  which  treat  of  religion  and  of 
our  duties  in  the  world  ;  and  it  is  because  they  assist  and 
illustrate  these  supreme  studies  that  I  press  upon  your 
attention  the  works  of  the  most  approved  poets,  histo¬ 
rians,  and  orators  of  the  past.”  The  works  of  the 
Christian  Fathers,  both  Latin  and  Greek,  the  Bible, 
creed,  Lord’s  Prayer,  and  Hymn  to  the  Virgin  were 
likewise  to  be  read  for  this  purpose,  together  with  the 
works  of  the  pagan  writers. 

Thus  the  mediaeval  rhetoric  and  dialectic  gave  way 
to  an  absorption  in  the  classic  writers  and  a  study  of  the 
languages  and  literatures  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome. 
But  besides  the  classical  and  Christian  literature,  there 
seems  to  have  been  some  room  in  this  broad  course  for 
mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  and  astronomy,  and, 
to  some  extent,  for  music,  singing,  and  dancing.  Ora¬ 
tory,  history,  and  ethics  were  taught  from  the  works  of 
the  classic  authors  themselves. 

The  physical  side  was  nurtured  by  various  exercises, 
which  were  partly  an  inheritance  from  the  court  training 
of  chivalry  and  partly  a  revival  of  the  aesthetic  ideals 
of  the  Greeks.  “  It  will  thus,”  declares  Aineas  Sylvius 
to  the  young  prince,  “  be  an  essential  part  of  your  edu¬ 
cation  that  you  be  taught  the  use  of  the  bow,  of  the 
sling,  and  of  the  spear;  that  you  drive,  ride,  leap,  and 
swim.  These  are  honorable  accomplishments  in  every 

1  Op.  cit .,  last  section. 


the  Christian 
Fathers,  and 
religious 
works, 


and  of 
mathematics, 
science,  and 
music ; 


and  through 
certain  physi¬ 
cal  exercises 
inherited 
from  chivalry 
and  the 
Greeks. 


134 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


This  course 
was  adapted 
to  the  ability 
and  interest 
of  each  pupil, 
and  the  dis¬ 
cipline  was 
mild. 


This  educa¬ 
tion  was 
largely  insti¬ 
tutionalized 
at  first  in 
the  court 
schools,  but 


one,  and  therefore  not  unworthy  of  the  educator’s 
care.”  1 

Method  of  the  Humanistic  Teachers. — Thus  the  cur¬ 
riculum  of  the  humanistic  education  contained  a  wide 
range  of  elements,  —  intellectual,  aesthetic,  moral,  and 
physical.  But  it  was  not  expected  that  every  one  should 
study  thoroughly  all  subjects,  and,  as  we  have  seen  in 
the  practice  of  Vittorino,2  the  course  was  largely  adapted 
to  the  ability  and  interest  of  each  pupil.  Of  the  various 
‘  disciplines  ’  Vergerius  declares  :  — 

“  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  a  liberal  education  requires  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  them  all,  for  a  thorough  mastery  of  even  one  of 
them  might  fairly  be  the  achievement  of  a  lifetime.  Most  of  us,  too, 
must  learn  to  be  content  with  modest  capacity  as  with  modest  for¬ 
tune.  Perhaps  we  do  wisely  to  pursue  that  study  which  we  find 
most  suited  to  our  intelligence  and  our  tastes,  though  it  is  true  that 
we  cannot  rightly  understand  one  subject  unless  we  can  perceive  its 
relation  to  the  rest.  The  choice  of  studies  will  depend  to  some 
extent  upon  the  character  of  individual  minds.  For  whilst  one  boy 
seizes  rapidly  the  point  of  which  he  is  in  search  and  states  it  ably, 
another,  working  far  more  slowly,  has  yet  the  sounder  judgment  and 
so  detects  the  weak  spot  in  his  rival’s  conclusions.  The  former, 
perhaps,  will  succeed  in  poetry,  or  in  the  abstract  sciences  ;  the  latter 
in  real  studies  and  practical  pursuits.”  3 

It  has  already  been  shown,  in  the  case  of  Vittorino, 
how  this  study  of  the  disposition  of  each  pupil  and  close 
personal  contact  stimulated  the  interest  and  obviated  in 
the  humanistic  training4  the  need  of  brutal  discipline. 
While  emulation  was  occasionally  appealed  to,  corporal 
punishment  was  practically  unknown. 

Organization  of  the  Humanistic  Education.  —  These 
educational  aims,  studies,  and  methods  of  humanism 
were  carried  out  informally  in  the  guidance  of  the  home 
before  the  boy  went  to  school.  From  earliest  infancy, 
mothers5  undertook  to  train  the  character,  manners, 

1  Op.  cit .,  §  2.  3  De  Ingenuis  Moribus ,  §  4. 

2  See  pp.  1 23-1 27.  4  See  pp.  126  f. 

5  During  the  Italian  Renaissance  girls,  as  well  as  boys,  were  often  care¬ 

fully  educated,  and  we  have  several  instances  of  noted  women  humanists. 
To  one  of  these,  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  Bruni  dedicated  his 

treatise  On  the  Study  of  Literature. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


135 


speech,  and  physique  of  their  children  according  to 
the  highest  humanistic  standards.  But,  as  we  have 
found  in  viewing  the  history  of  humanism,1  these  ideals 
first  took  on  a  genuine  institutional  form  in  the  schools 
founded  at  the  courts  of  the  city  despots.  These  court 
schools  were  sometimes  connected  with  the  universities, 
and  gradually  the  universities  themselves,  after  some¬ 
thing  of  a  struggle,  admitted  the  new  learning  to  their 
curriculum,  where  it  speedily  thrived  and  multiplied. 
Humanistic  education  in  Italy  thus  became  completely 
organized. 

Decadence  of  the  Italian  Humanism  and  the  Rise  of 
Ciceronianism.  —  Toward  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  however,  this  liberal  education  of  the  humanists 
in  Italy  began  to  be  fixed  and  formal.  Until  the  death 
of  Nicholas  V,  the  ideals,  content,  and  meaning  of  this 
training  were  constantly  expanding,  but  through  the 
latter  half  of  the  century  there  was  a  gradual  narrow¬ 
ing  and  hardening,  and  during  the  early  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century  the  degeneration  became  complete. 
This  was  the  age  of  the  purists.  It  began  with  the 
formal  and  pretentious  artificialities  of  Valla,2  especially 
as  crystallized  in  his  book  on  Elegantice  Latince  (‘  Ele¬ 
gancies  of  Latin  ’),  and  reached  its  height  under  the 
dictatorship  of  Bembo  and  the  Medicean  pope,  Leo  X.3 

As  the  subject  matter  became  institutionalized,  the 
literature  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  failed  more  and 
more  to  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  life.  Instead  of 
giving  understanding  and  meaning  to  certain  activities 
suitable  for  mankind,  the  study  of  the  humanities  be¬ 
came  an  end  in  itself.  The  aim  of  education  came  to 
be  a  mastery  of  ancient  literature  and  of  the  preliminary 
training  in  grammar,  and  emphasis  was  placed  upon  the 
form  rather  than  the  content  of  the  classical  writings. 
The  aesthetic,  moral,  social,  and  physical  elements  were 
gradually  read  out  of  education,  and  the  humanistic 
training  became  simply  a  preparation  for  the  formal 
life  of  the  times. 

1  See  pp.  123  and  127  f. 


was  eventu¬ 
ally  admitted 
to  the  uni¬ 
versities. 


At  the  close 
of  the  fif¬ 
teenth 
century, 
humanism 
became  fixed 
and  formal, 
and  the 
aesthetic  and 
social  ele¬ 
ments  were 
replaced  by 
a  drill  in 
grammar. 


2  See  p.  129. 


8  See  p.  130. 


136 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


This  deca¬ 
dent  stage  is 
known  as 
‘  Ciceronian- 
ism,’  from 
the  almost 
exclusive 
study  of  the 
phrases, 
forms,  and 
figures  of 
Cicero. 


In  the  course  of  study,  grammatical  drill  was  more 
and  more  emphasized  as  a  means  of  formal  discipline. 
Etymological  and  syntactical  scholarship  received  almost 
exclusive  attention,  and  was  supplemented  only  by  a 
rhetorical  and  stylistic  study  of  Latin  authors,  such  as 
Plautus,  Terence,  Vergil,  Ovid,  and  especially  Cicero. 
In  fact,  before  long  the  course  was  limited  almost  en¬ 
tirely  to  the  last-named  writer,  and  the  new  learning  fell 
into  that  decadent  state  afterward  called  Ciceronianism . 
It  consisted  in  an  attempt  to  teach  a  perfect  style  with 
Cicero  as  a  model,  and  to  give  one  a  conversational 
knowledge  of  Ciceronian  Latin.  The  structure,  meta¬ 
phors,  and  vocabulary  of  all  Latin  writing  had  to  be 
copied  from  the  phrases  of  Cicero,  and  the  literature 
of  the  day  became  little  more  than  a  sequence  of  model 
passages  from  that  author.  The  humanistic  curriculum 
thus  lapsed  into  a  formalism  almost  as  barren  as  that  of 
the  schoolmen,  except  that  Cicero,  rather  than  Aristotle, 
became  the  authority. 

To  acquire  the  diction  of  this  writer,  the  pupil  was 
required  to  make  a  long  and  careful  study  of  his  works. 
In  the  satire  of  Erasmus  on  Ciceronianism ,  the  devotee 
brags  that  he  has  read  no  other  author  for  seven  years. 
He  declares  that  he  “  has  compiled  an  alphabetical  lexi¬ 
con  of  Cicero,  so  huge  that  two  strong  carriers  well  sad¬ 
dled  could  scarcely  carry  it  upon  their  backs ;  a  second 
volume  even  larger  than  this,  in  which  are  arranged 
alphabetically  the  phrases  peculiar  to  Cicero ;  and  a 
third,  in  which  have  been  gathered  all  the  metrical  feet 
with  which  Cicero  ever  begins  or  ends  his  periods,  and 
their  subdivisions,  the  rhythms  which  he  uses  in  between, 
and  the  cadences  which  he  chooses  for  each  kind  of 
sentence,  so  that  no  little  point  could  escape.”  The 
Ciceronian  in  his  dialogue  further  holds  that  one  whose 
style  is  pure  will  not  use  any  grammatical  form  what¬ 
soever  not  in  Cicero,  saying  :  — 


“There  is  no  exception.  A  Ciceronian  he  will  not  be  in  whose 
books  there  is  found  a  single  little  word  which  he  cannot  show  in 
the  writings  of  Cicero  ;  and  a  man’s  whole  vocabulary  I  deem  as  spu- 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


137 


rious  as  a  counterfeit  coin,  if  there  is  in  it  even  a  single  word  which 
has  not  the  stamp  of  the  Ciceronian  die ;  for  to  Cicero  alone,  as  the 
prince  of  eloquence,  it  has  been  given  by  the  gods  above  to  stamp 
the  coin  of  Roman  speech.”  1 

This  is,  of  course,  an  exaggeration  of  the  Ciceronian 
tendency,  but  the  pupil  apparently  was  ordinarily  ex¬ 
pected  to  commit  lists  of  Ciceronian  words,  phrases, 
introductions,  and  perorations,  and  to  indite  letters, 
make  conversations,  and  construct  orations  in  the  Cicer¬ 
onian  style.  All  textbooks  of  the  period  seem  to  have 
been  arranged  with  these  objects  in  view.  The  boys 
were  taught  formal  grammar  upon  the  basis  of  Cicero, 
as  if  their  minds  worked  like  those  of  an  adult.  Fine 
grammatical  distinctions  of  as  subtle  an  order  as  the 
quibbles  of  the  scholastic  dialectic  came  to  be  made,  and 
memory  rather  than  reason  became  the  basis  of  acquisi¬ 
tion.  Such  methods,  sadly  lacking  in  the  power  to  stim¬ 
ulate  interest,  were  inevitably  accompanied  by  corporal 
punishment,  which  was  inflicted  quite  as  unsparingly  to 
produce  conformity  to  the  stereotyped  course  as  to  in¬ 
sure  proper  conduct.  Hence,  by  the  early  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  humanistic  education  of  Italy  had 
become  almost  as  ‘cribbed,  cabined,  and  confined,’  and 
fully  as  formal,  as  that  of  the  days  of  scholasticism. 
The  interest  in  life  and  its  opportunities,  and  the  pursuit 
of  self-culture  in  the  broad  sense,  seem  for  the  most 
part  to  have  gone  to  seed. 

Italian  humanism,  however,  had  at  its  best  been  largely 
individual  and  personal,  and  had  looked  more  to  the  joy 
in  living  than  to  social  improvement  and  the  advance¬ 
ment  of  morals.  The  desire  for  liberty  of  expression  and 
an  immortality  in  this  world,  and  the  enthusiasm  for 
pagan  culture  that  are  patent  in  the  life  and  writings  of 
early  humanists,  like  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio,  are  found 
to  have  degenerated  eventually  into  license,  immorality, 
paganism,  and  sacrilege,  with  a  consequent  neglect  of 

1  The  whole  of  the  Dialogus  Ciceronianus  should  be  read.  The  excel¬ 
lent  translation  recently  made  (New  York,  1908)  by  Izora  Scott,  from 
which  the  passages  above  have  been  taken,  makes  this  an  easy  matter  for 
English  readers. 


The  methods 
were  lacking 
in  interest, 
and  were 
accompanied 
by  corporal 
punishment. 


138 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


all  things  religious.  Thus  the  humanistic  movement  in 
Italy  became  formal  and  crystallized,  and  subversive  of 
all  real  progress.  It  had  largely  defeated  its  own  ends, 
and  the  mission  of  humanism  to  refine  the  manners  and 
morals,  to  purify  religion,  and  advance  society,  was  left 
for  the  achievement  of  other  countries  than  the  states  of 
Italy. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Norton,  A.  O.  Readings  in  the  History  of  Education.  Chapters 
on  The  Renaissance. 

OGG,  1'.  A.  A  Source  Book  of  Mediceval  History.  Chap.  XXVI. 
Prendilacqua,  F.  Intorno  alia  vita  di  Vittorino  da  Feltre. 
Robinson,  J.  H.  Readings  in  European  History.  Vol.  I,  Chap. 
XXII.  ‘ 

Robinson,  J.  H.,  and  Rolfe,  H.  W.  Petrarch.  A  Selection  from 
His  Correspondence. 

Scott,  Izora  (Translator).  Ciceronianus  by  Desiderius  Erasiiius. 
Vespasiano  da  Bisticci.  Vite  di  Uomini  Ilhistri  del  Secolo  XV 
(edited  by  Mai  and  Bartoli). 

Whitcomb,  M.  A  Literary  Source  Book  of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 
Woodward,  W.  H.  Vittorino  da  Feltre.  (Includes  a  translation 
of  De  Ingenids  Moribus  of  Vergerius,  De  Studiis  et  Literis  of 
Bruni,  De  Liberorum  Educatione  of  yEneas  Sylvius,  and  De 
Ordine  Docendi  et  Studeiidi  of  Battista  Guarino.) 

II.  Authorities 

Acton,  Lord  (Editor).  The  Cambridge  Modern  History.  Chap. 

XVI  by  Jebb  and  Chap.  XVII  by  James. 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chap.  XV. 
Barnard,  H.  The  Renaissance  in  Italy.  {American  Jour7ial  of 
Educatio7i ,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  413-460). 

Burckhardt,  J.  The  Civilization  of  the  Renaissa7ice  hi  Italy 
(translated  by  Middlemore). 

Drane,  A.  T.  Christia7i  Schools  a7id  Scholars.  Chap.  II. 
Draper,  J.  W.  History  of  Intellectual  Developiiieiit  hi  Europe. 
Vol.  II,  Chaps.  II-VI. 

Farrar,  F.  W.  (Editor).  Essays  on  a  Liberal  Education.  Essay  I, 
§§  IV-V. 

Guizot,  F.  History  of  Civilization.  Vol.  I,  Lect.  X. 

Jebb,  R.  C.  Humanism  in  Education. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Educational  Opinion  since  the  Renaissance.  Chaps. 
I-II. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  IN  ITALY 


139 


Monroe,  P.  Text-book  in  the  History  of  Education.  Chap.  VI. 
Mullinger,  J.  B.  A  History  of  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

Vol.  I. 

Owen,  J .  The  Skeptics  of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 

S andys,  J.  E.  A  History  of  Classical  Scholarship.  Vol.  II,  Bk.  I. 
Schaff,  P.  The  Renaissance. 

Symonds,  J.  A.  A  Short  History  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy. 

Chaps.  III-IV  and  VII-XI. 

Symonds,  J.  A.  Giovanni  Boccaccio. 

Symonds,  J.  A.  Renaissajice  in  Italy.  The  Revival  of  Learning. 
Thurber,  C.  H.  Vittorino  da  Feltre  {The  School  Review ,  Vol. 
VII,  pp.  295-300). 

Voigt,  G.  Die  Wiederlebung  des  Classischen  Alterthums . 
Woodward,  W.  H.  Vittorino  da  Feltre  and  Other  Humanist 
Educators. 

Woodward,  W.  H.  Education  during  the  Renaissance. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


Through  the 
invention  of 
printing, 
humanism 
spread  into 
France,  the 
Teutonic 
countries, 
England,  and 
elsewhere  in 
the  North, 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH 

The  Spread  and  Character  of  Humanism  in  the  North¬ 
ern  Countries.  —  Until  almost  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  the  Renaissance  was  largely  confined  to  Italy. 
In  the  Northern  countries  sporadic  humanists  appeared 
here  and  there  by  the  middle  of  the  century,  but  the 
movement  could  not  have  been  at  all  general.  But  the 
introduction  of  printing  gave  the  humanists  a  new  means 
of  preserving  the  classical  learning  and  of  extending  its 
sphere  of  influence.  This  art,  invented  in  Germany 
about  1450,  was  brought  into  Italy  some  fifteen  years 
later  by  pupils  of  Johann  Fust,  and  spread  through 
France,  Switzerland,  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  England, 
and  a  dozen  less  important  states  before  the  close  of  the 
century.  In  1472  an  edition  of  Vergil  was  struck  off  in 
Florence,  and  after  this  the  multiplication  of  all  texts 
was  rapid  and  continuous. 

As  a  result,  the  revival  of  learning  and  the  renewed 
spirit  of  independence  and  criticism  could  not  be  limited 
to  a  single  country.  The  Renaissance  and  the  classic 
literature  leaped  the  Alps,  and  made  their  way  first  into 
France,  and  then  into  the  Teutonic  countries,  England, 
and  elsewhere.  At  first,  humanistic  scholars  wandered 
into  the  North,  soon  others  were  invited  in  large  numbers 
by  patrons  of  learning,  and,  at  length,  students  from  the 
Northern  countries  thronged  into  Italy  for  instruction. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  humanists 
outside  the  peninsula  became  very  numerous,  and  the 
movement,  during  the  sixteenth  century,  after  it  had 
lost  its  vitality  in  Italy,  came  to  its  height  in  the 
Northern  lands,  and  did  not  sink  into  a  formalism  until 
the  very  end  of  the  century. 

140 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  141 


But  the  character  and  effects  of  the  Renaissance  and 
humanism  in  the  North  differed  greatly  from  those  in  the 
country  of  their  origin.  The  peoples  of  the  North, 
especially  those  of  Germanic  stock,  were  naturally  more 
religious  than  the  brilliant  and  mercurial  Italians.  With 
them  the  Renaissance  led  less  to  a  desire  for  personal 
development,  self-realization,  and  individual  achievement, 
and  took  on  more  of  a  social  and  moral  color.  With  the 
great  Italian  educators,  it  was,  indeed,  felt  that  the 
humanistic  training  should  lead  to  symmetrical  develop¬ 
ment  and  social  efficiency,  but  largely  for  the  sake  of 
the  individual’s  happiness  and  fame.  Whereas  the 
prime  purpose  of  humanism  in  the  North  became  the 
improvement  of  society,  morally  and  religiously,  and 
much  less  attention  was  paid  to  the  physical,  intellec¬ 
tual,  and  aesthetic  elements  in  education.  The  classical 
revival  here  pointed  the  way  to  obtaining  a  new  and 
more  exalted  meaning  from  the  Scriptures.  Through 
the  revival  of  Greek,  Northern  scholars,  especially  the 
Germans  and  the  English,  sought  to  get  away  from  the 
ecclesiastical  doctrines  and  traditions,  and  turn  back  to 
the  essence  of  Christianity  by  studying  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  in  the  original.  This  suggested  a  similar  insight 
into  the  Old  Testament,  and  an  interest  in  Hebrew  also 
was  thereby  aroused.  In  consequence,  to  most  people 
in  the  North  a  renewed  study  of  the  Bible  became  as 
important  a  feature  of  humanism  as  an  appreciation  of 
the  classics,  and  the  purer  religious  and  theological  con¬ 
ceptions  that  eventually  resulted  mark  the  Reformation 
as  a  logical  accompaniment  of  the  Renaissance.  Thus 
the  Northern  humanism  was  at  the  same  time  both 
broader  and  narrower  than  that  of  Italy.  But  this  can 
best  be  understood  by  a  more  detailed  account  of  the 
movement  in  the  various  countries  of  the  North  and  a 
study  of  the  more  prominent  figures  in  each  case. 

The  Development  of  Humanism  in  France.  —  It  was 
but  natural  that  the  first  of  the  Northern  states  to  take 
up  the  new  scholarship  should  be  France.  During  the 
days  of  scholasticism  this  country  had  been  the  great 


where  it  took 
on  more  of  a 
social  and 
moral  color. 


Northern 
scholars 
sought  an 
insight  into 
the  New 
Testament  by 
studying  it  in 
the  original 
Greek,  and 
this  sug¬ 
gested  a 
study  of 
Hebrew  for 
the  Old 
Testament. 


France, 
which  had, 
during  the 
scholastic 
period,  been 
the  intellec- 


142 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


tual  center  of 
Europe,  was 
naturally  the 
first  to  take 
hold  of  the 
new  learning, 
and  was 
especially 
stimulated  by 
the  expedi¬ 
tions  of 
Charles  VIII 
and  Louis 
XII. 


The  univer¬ 
sities  were 
conservative, 
but  under 
Francis  I 
arose  many 
humanistic 
educators. 


intellectual  center  of  Europe,  and  had  yielded  its  posi¬ 
tion  only  as  the  humanistic  enthusiasm  swept  over  Italy. 
Before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  began  to 
take  hold  of  the  new  learning.  By  1458  a  professorship 
of  Greek  was  established  at  the  University  of  Paris  and 
occupied  by  a  certain  Gregorio  of  Tiferno,  and  a  dozen 
years  later  it  was  filled  by  a  native  Spartan  named 
Hermonymus.  The  humanistic  movement,  however, 
was  especially  stimulated  in  France  through  the  expedi¬ 
tion  into  Italy  of  Charles  VIII  in  1494  and  that  of  Louis 
XII  some  four  years  later.  The  former  monarch  claimed 
to  have  inherited  the  kingdom  of  Naples  among  other 
possessions,  and,  in  his  efforts  to  secure  it,  temporarily 
occupied  Florence  and  Rome.  His  successor  also 
claimed  Milan  through  his  grandmother,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Visconti  family,  and  seized  this  city 
as  well  as  Naples  (1498-1500).  While  these  under¬ 
takings  of  France  had  no  immediate  political  results, 
for  Charles  was  soon  glad  to  escape  from  Italy,  and  the 
more  able  Louis  sold  his  title  to  Naples  and  was  driven 
out  of  Milan,  yet  a  lasting  impression  was  thereby 
made  upon  the  art  and  literature  of  the  North.  The 
French  had  come  into  direct  contact  with  humanism  at 
its  sources,  —  Milan,  Florence,  Rome,  and  Naples,  and 
their  admiration  was  challenged  by  the  evidences  of 
classical  culture,  intellectual  activity,  modernness,  and 
individualism  that  they  met  there.  They  were  incited 
to  recover  their  lost  prestige,  and,  from  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  the  French  scholars  and  printers,  in 
their  struggles  to  further  humanistic  ideals,  became  the 
foremost  in  Europe. 

Budaeus  and  His  Treatise.  —  Owing  to  the  narrowness 
and  conservatism  of  the  universities,  which  existed  in 
spite  of  the  chair  of  Greek  at  Paris,  the  new  learning 
met  at  first  with  formidable  opposition.  Happily,  it 
found  an  influential  patron  in  the  youthful  Francis  I 
(1515-1547),  who  succeeded  Louis  XII.  Under  his 
protection,  many  prominent  humanistic  scholars  and 
educators  appeared.  Among  these  the  most  doughty 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 43 


champion  of  the  ancient  classics  was  found  in  Guillaume 
Bud!  or  Budceus  (1468-1540).  He  read  widely,  trans¬ 
lated,  and  taught  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors.  He 
also  produced  a  treatise  on  humanistic  education,  which 
he  entitled  De  V Institution  du  Prince  (‘  On  the  Instruc¬ 
tion  of  the  Prince’),  and  dedicated  it  to  the  young  king, 
Francis.1  This  work  was  intended  to  be  propagandist 
and  inspirational  rather  than  instructive,  and  contains 
much  that  is  trite,  but  it  accomplished  a  great  deal  for 
classical  training.  “Every  man,”  writes  Budaeus,  “even 
if  a  king,  should  be  devoted  to  philology.”  By  that  he 
means  all  liberal  learning  or  ‘  humanities,’  which  is  so 
called  because,  without  it,  man  would  become  a  mere 
animal.  This  training,  he  holds,  can  be  obtained  only 
through  Latin  and  Greek,  especially  the  latter,  about 
which  he  is  most  enthusiastic.  Shortly  after  writing  this 
treatise,  Budaeus  was  appointed  royal  librarian.  He 
then  began  earnestly  to  collect  classical  manuscripts, 
and  assisted  in  the  foundation  of  the  famous  humanistic 
press  of  the  Estiennes.  Later,  he  succeeded  in  getting 
the  king  to  complete  his  plans  for  a  great  humanistic 
institution  of  learning,  and  the  College  of  France,  with 
its  chairs  of  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Latin,  was  established. 
Thus  by  the  time  of  his  death,  France  was  fairly  com¬ 
mitted  to  humanistic  training. 

Corderius  as  Schoolmaster  and  Author.  —  Another  en¬ 
thusiast  on  the  classical  learning  was  Mathurin  Cordier 
(1479-1564),  or  Maturinus  Corderius ,  as  he  is  more 
commonly  called.  He  had  a  successful  teaching  ex¬ 
perience  and  displayed  a  strong  advocacy  of  the  human¬ 
istic  education  at  various  colleges  in  Paris  and  Bordeaux. 
When  well  along  in  life,  he  listened  to  a  call  from  his 
old  pupil,  Calvin,  who  was  now  administering  the  affairs 
of  Geneva,  and  went  to  that  city  to  organize  and  teach 
in  the  reformed  schools  of  Switzerland.  Among  his 
early  writings  is  a  book  on  Latin  inflections  and  syntax 
called  De  Corrupti  Sermonis  Emendatione  Libelhis  (‘  A 

1  So  Vergerius,  Bruni,  ^Eneas  Sylvius,  and  B.  Guarino  had  addressed 
their  treatises  to  scions  of  royalty  or  the  nobility. 


Budaeus 
wrote  a 
humanistic 
treatise  and 
collected 
many 
classical 
manuscripts* 


Corderius 
taught  and 
advocated 
the  human¬ 
istic  educa¬ 
tion 

in  France 
and  Switzer¬ 
land,  and 
wrote  De 


144 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Emendatione 
and  Collo- 
quia  upon 
the  study  of 
Latin. 


The  College 
de  Guyenne 
was  reorgan¬ 
ized  on  a 
humanistic 
basis,  and  is 
typical  of  the 
schools  in 
the  French 
cities  gener¬ 
ally  during 
the  sixteenth 
century. 


Little  Book  for  the  Amendment  of  Corrupt  Speech  ’), 
which  was  intended  to  improve  Latin  style  in  the  French 
schools.  In  Switzerland  he  wrote  four  books  of  Collo- 
quia  (‘  Colloquies  ’),  with  the  purpose  of  training  boys, 
by  means  of  conversations  on  timely  topics,  to  speak 
Latin  with  facility.  The  De  Emendatione  taught  Latin 
through  the  medium  of  French,  making  a  simultaneous 
study  of  both  languages,  but  from  his  Colloquies ,  which 
give  an  excellent  picture  of  the  school  life  of  the  times, 
and  from  accounts  of  the  curricula  in  Switzerland,  it  is 
seen  that  he  must  have  changed  his  plan  of  teaching 
after  he  came  to  Switzerland.  Here,  it  would  seem, 
Latin  had  scarcely  been  the  traditional  means  of  in¬ 
struction,  and  to  raise  the  tone  of  scholarship,  it  was 
necessary  to  require  Latin  to  be  spoken  at  all  times. 
The  Colloquia  came  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century  to  have  the  widest  circulation  of  any  textbook, 
and  was  translated  into  English  and  other  languages. 

The  College  de  Guyenne  and  Other  Schools.  —  Gradually 
all  the  schools  of  France  began  to  respond  to  the  new 
training.  It  would  hardly  be  possible  or  desirable  to 
describe  many  of  them,  but  the  College  de  Guyenne  at 
the  seaport  of  Bordeaux,  which  was  one  of  the  first  to 
feel  the  humanistic  impulse,  may  well  be  considered  in 
detail.  The  reorganization  of  this  institution  had  been 
undertaken  by  the  humanistic  educator,  Gouvea,  and  the 
staff  of  the  school  always  included  several  distinguished 
scholars,  such  as  Corderius  and  Vinet.  From  the  latter 
we  have  a  description  of  the  actual  course  and  adminis¬ 
tration  there  in  vogue.  According  to  him,  “  this  school 
was  especially  intended  for  learning  Latin,”  but  it  also 
included  other  subjects  in  its  course.  It  consisted  of 
ten  classes  in  secondary  work,  and  two  years  more  in 
philosophy,  which  partially  overlapped  the  faculty  of 
arts  in  the  university.  Latin  and  religion  were  taught 
throughout  the  grammar  school,  and  Greek,  mathe¬ 
matics,  rhetoric,  and  declamation  could  be  taken  in  the 
last  three  or  four  classes.  The  course  in  philosophy 
consisted  largely  of  the  Aristotelian  works  on  logic  and 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  145 


natural  science.  The  methods  employed  in  the  school 
seem  to  have  been  admirable  for  the  times.  The  pupils 
were  introduced  to  the  rudiments  of  Latin  through  the 
vernacular,  and  developmental  methods  and  enlivening 
disputations  were  used.  Naturally  severe  punishments 
seem  not  to  have  been  needed.  Probably  the  general 
conditions  at  this  college  of  Bordeaux  were  typical  of 
the  humanistic  schools  everywhere  in  French  cities 
during  the  sixteenth  century. 

Classical  Studies  in  the  German  Universities.  —  By 
this  time  humanism  had  also  spread  through  the  Teu¬ 
tonic  countries.  Even  the  German  universities  had 
begun  to  respond  to  the  humanistic  influences.  While 
the  University  of  Paris  was  for  a  generation  the  center 
of  the  new  learning,  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  wandering  teachers  of  the  classics 
began  to  visit  the  higher  institutions  in  the  German 
states  and  left  their  impress  upon  them.  In  1494 
Erfurt  established  a  professorship  of  Poetry  and  Elo¬ 
quence,  which  covered  the  field  of  classic  literature,  and 
within  a  short  time  the  university  had  been  completely 
reformed  upon  a  humanistic  basis.  So  Leipzig,  in  1519, 
under  the  great  Duke  George,  introduced  more  polished 
translations  of  Aristotle  to  replace  those  of  the  old 
schoolmen,  and  lectures  were  given  on  Cicero,  Quin¬ 
tilian,  Vergil,  and  Greek  authors.  Many  other  univer¬ 
sity  centers, —  Heidelberg,  Tubingen,  Ingoldstadt,  and 
Vienna  were  similarly  transformed,  and  a  number  of 
new  universities  were  humanistic  from  their  foundation. 
Such  were  Wittenberg,  which  was  started  as  early  as 
1502,  and  Marburg,  Konigsberg,  and  Jena,  which  were 
founded  nearer  the  middle  of  the  century.1  And  before 
the  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
humanism  had  prevailed  in  practically  all  of  the  German 
universities. 

The  Hieronymian  Schools.  —  But  probably  the  earliest 
and  most  influential  factor  in  German  humanism  ap- 

1  Much  of  this  remodeling  and  extension  was  due  to  the  influence  of 
Melanchthon.  See  pp.  156  f. 


The  German 
universities 
established 
chairs  of 
classics,  and 
new  human¬ 
istic  univer¬ 
sities  were 
founded. 


The  Hiero¬ 
nymian 
schools, 


146 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


founded  in 
the  four¬ 
teenth  cen¬ 
tury  for 
religious  and 
elementary 
training, 
added 

classic  litera¬ 
ture  and 
Hebrew  as 
the  Italian 
influence 
began  to  be 
felt. 


These 
schools 
spread 
throughout 
the  Nether¬ 
lands,  the 
German 
States,  and 
France,  and 
became 
recognized 
centers  of 
intellectual 
interest. 


peared  in  the  education  furnished  by  the  religious  order 
known  as  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Lot  or  the  Hiero- 
nymians}  Most  of  the  first  leaders  in  humanism  were 
connected  with  this  brotherhood  either  as  members  or 
pupils.  The  order  was  founded  in  1376  by  Geert  Groot 
(1340-1384)  at  Deventer,  Holland,  and  was  composed  of 
pious  men  devoted  to  industry,  learning,  and  popular 
education.  They  maintained  themselves  by  copying 
manuscripts,  and  gave  instruction  to  the  poor.  In  some 
places  they  founded  schools  and  superintended  all 
the  classes ;  in  others  they  acted  as  assistants  in  schools 
already  existing.  Naturally  they  at  first  stressed  in¬ 
struction  in  the  Bible  and  the  vernacular,  and  taught 
reading,  writing,  singing,  and  conversation  in  ecclesias¬ 
tical  Latin.  But  as  the  Italian  influence  began  to  be 
felt  in  the  upper  countries,  although  the  Hieronymians 
still  held  to  their  moral  and  religious  motives,  they 
broadened  the  course  by  the  addition  of  humanistic 
elements.  They  retained  their  Christian  training,  but 
added  the  classic  literature  and  Hebrew.  While  the 
education  they  offered  was  generally  elementary  and 
secondary,  and  consisted  mostly  of  Latin  and  Greek,  it 
included  rhetoric  and  theology  in  the  higher  classes,  and 
the  Brethren  often  expanded  the  course  so  that  in 
several  instances  it  covered  the  work  of  the  faculty  of 
arts  in  a  university.  Before  the  opening  of  the  Renais¬ 
sance  in  the  North  they  had  established  a  chain  of 
forty-five  houses,  extending  through  the  Netherlands, 
the  German  states,  and  France,  and  within  a  generation 
this  number  had  trebled.  The  Brethren  were  in  control 
of  the  famous  institutions  at  Deventer,  Zwolle,  Li£ge, 
Louvain,  Mechlin,  Cambrai,  and  Valenciennes,  and 
founded  the  College  de  Montaigu  in  connection  with  the 
University  of  Paris.  Before  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  there  were  two  thousand  students  in  attendance 
at  Deventer,  and  several  hundred  at  ten  or  a  dozen  other 
of  the  Hieronymian  institutions.  The  constant  visits  of 

1  The  order  was  sometimes  known  from  its  patron  saints,  Jerome  and 
Gregory,  as  the  Hieronymian  or  Gregorian. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 47 


members  of  the  order  to  Italy  and  the  frequent  change 
of  their  teachers  brought  about  an  interchange  of  knowl¬ 
edge,  which  silently  molded  public  opinion  and  exerted 
a  tremendous  influence  for  humanism  and  higher  ideals. 
The  Hieronymian  schools,  especially  those  at  Deventer 
and  Zwolle,  became  recognized  centers  of  intellectual 
interests  and  humanism.  They  were  visited  by  wander¬ 
ing  scholars,  and  the  pupils  that  were  trained  there 
strengthened  the  new  learning  as  teachers  in  the  uni¬ 
versities  and  schools  throughout  the  Netherlands  and 
Germany. 

Wessel,  Agricola,  Reuchlin,  and  Hegius.  —  The  first 
educator  of  importance  to  introduce  humanism  into  these 
schools  seems  to  have  been  Johann  Wessel  (1420-1489). 
He  had  received  his  first  schooling  at  Zwolle,  and  after 
studying  and  teaching  the  classics  and  Hebrew  in 
Cologne,  Paris,  Florence,  and  Rome,  returned  to  his 
early  school  as  an  instructor.  His  interest  was  in  teach¬ 
ing  even  more  than  in  scholarship,  and  he  held  that  “the 
scholar  is  known  by  his  ability  to  teach.”  He  had,  in 
consequence,  a  marked  influence  upon  humanistic  edu¬ 
cation,  and  sent  out  a  number  of  distinguished  pupils. 
Among  those  influenced  by  him  while  at  Paris  were 
Rudolphus  Agricola  1  (1443-1485)  and  Johann  Reuchlin 
(1455-1522).  Agricola  studied  later  in  Pavia,  Ferrara, 
and  elsewhere  in  Italy,  and  after  absorbing  all  the  best 
influences  of  the  Renaissance,  returned  as  a  humanistic 
missionary  to  his  own  ‘  barbarous,  unlearned,  and  un¬ 
cultured  ’  people.  At  Heidelberg  and  Worms  he  lec¬ 
tured  on  the  classics,  and  while  he  could  never  be  induced 
to  tie  himself  down  to  the  routine  of  a  single  institution, 
he  showed  at  all  times  a  genuine  interest  in  good  schools. 
Toward  the  close  of  his  life  he  wrote  a  humanistic 
treatise,  De  Formando  Studio  (‘  On  the  Regulation  of 
Study  ’),  and  he  was  regarded  by  all  the  other  human¬ 
ists  as  the  most  potent  influence  in  introducing  the  study 


Wessel  in¬ 
troduced 
humanism 
into  the 
Hieronym¬ 
ian  schools. 


Agricola 
lectured  on 
the  classics, 
and  wrote  a 
humanistic 
treatise. 


1  He  is  best  known  by  this  Latinized  form  of  his  name,  but  he  ’was 
originally  Roelof  Huysman  (‘  farmer  ’).  This  tendency  for  educators  to 
translate  their  names  became  one  of  the  formal  marks  of  humanism. 


148 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Reuchlin 
prepared  a 
Latin  lexi¬ 
con,  editions 
of  the  Greek 
classics,  and 
a  Hebrew 
grammar 
and  lexicon. 


Hegius 

reformed 

texts  and 

methods, 

and  wrote  a 

humanistic 

treatise. 


Wimpfeling 
lectured 
upon  classi¬ 
cal  authors 
and  St. 
Jerome,  and 
wrote  Isido- 
neus  Ger- 
manicus  and 
Adolescentia. 


of  classics  into  the  North.  Erasmus  in  particular  de¬ 
clares  that  he  was  inter  Grcecos  Grcecissimus ,  inter 
Latinos  Latinissimns.  Reuchlin,  the  friend  of  Agricola, 
had  a  somewhat  similar  influence,  but  gave  more  atten¬ 
tion  to  Hebrew.  After  studying  at  Paris  with  Wessel 
and  at  other  humanistic  centers,  he  taught  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew  at  the  Universities  of  Heidelberg,  Ingold- 
stadt,  and  Tubingen.  He  prepared  a  Latin  lexicon, 
many  editions  of  Greek  classics,  and  a  combined  gram¬ 
mar  and  lexicon  of  the  Hebrew  language,  to  which  he 
applied  the  words  of  Horace, — exegi  monumentum  cere 
perennius  (‘  I  have  raised  a  monument  more  lasting  than 
bronze’).  Alexander  Hegius  (1433-1498),  for  a  whole 
generation  the  head  of  the  school  at  Deventer,  was  also 
connected  with  Agricola.  Although  ten  years  older, 
he  studied  Greek  under  him,  and  modestly  said :  “  I 
learnt  from  him  all  I  know  or  men  suppose  me  to  know.” 
Hegius  introduced  many  reforms  in  texts  and  methods, 
and  wrote  a  treatise,  De  Utilitate  Linguce  Grcecce  (‘  On 
the  Utility  of  the  Greek  Language’).  During  his  time 
there  graduated  from  Deventer  a  large  number  of 
leading  humanistic  scholars  and  teachers,  including 
Erasmus,  the  most  famous  humanist  of  the  North. 

The  Work  of  Jakob  Wimpfeling.  —  But  before  endeav¬ 
oring  to  do  justice  to  the  work  of  that  brilliant  cosmo¬ 
politan  scholar,  Erasmus,  we  must  first  consider  the 
influence  of  Jakob  Wimpfeling1  (1450-1 528),  who  was 
an  earlier  product  of  the  Hieronymian  education.  He 
was  educated  in  the  school  of  Schlettstadt  in  Alsace, 
which  was  an  offshoot  of  Deventer,  and  became  the 
means  of  training  several  humanists  of  reputation.  He 
obtained  further  education  at  the  humanistic  universities 
of  Basel,  Erfurt,  and  Heidelberg,  and  became  a  profes¬ 
sor,  dean  of  the  faculty  of  arts,  and  finally  for  two  years 
rector,  in  the  last  named  institution.  He  lectured  upon 
the  classical  authors  and  St.  Jerome,  and  wrote  a  num¬ 
ber  of  treatises  upon  education.  Of  these  the  most 


1  Also  less  properly  written  Wimpheling  or  Wympfding. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 49 


prominent  are  Isidoneus  Germanicus  (‘  An  Introductory 
Book  for  Germans  ’),  which  was  the  first  educational 
treatise  in  the  Northern  humanistic  period,  and  deals 
with  the  proper  curriculum  and  methods,  as  well  as 
deeper  educational  principles  and  problems ;  and  Ado- 
lescentia  (‘  Youth  ’),  which  advocates  moral  principles  by 
means  of  selections  from  the  Bible  and  the  classics,  and 
makes  an  attempt  to  analyze  the  mental  processes  of 
the  child.  He  also  embodied  his  theories  in  several  text¬ 
books.  Wimpfeling’s  humanism  was  of  a  broad  but 
religious  type.  While  he  sought  to  stress  the  content 
rather  than  the  form  of  the  classics,  and  recommended 
a  wide  selection  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors,  he  held  to 
the  social  and  moral  aim  in  their  study.  “  Of  what  use,” 
he  asks,  “are  all  the  books  in  the  world,  the  most  learned 
writings,  the  profoundest  researches,  if  they  only  minister 
to  the  vainglory  of  their  authors,  and  do  not,  or  cannot, 
advance  the  good  of  mankind  ?  .  .  .  What  profits  all 
our  learning,  if  our  character  be  not  correspondingly 
noble,  all  our  industry  without  piety,  all  our  knowing 
without  love  of  our  neighbor,  all  our  wisdom  without 
humility,  all  our  studying,  if  we  are  not  kind  and  chari¬ 
table?”  However,  while  a  true  reformer,  like  Erasmus 
he  never  broke  from  the  Church.  He  had  a  great  influ¬ 
ence  upon  humanism  and  his  pupils,  and,  because  of  his 
prominence,  he  was  frequently  called  upon  by  educators 
and  rulers  for  advice  concerning  their  schools.  Hence  he 
has  sometimes  shared  with  the  Protestant  Melanchthon 
the  title  of  Germania  prceceptorip  the  teacher  of  Germany’). 

Erasmus,  the  Leader  in  Humanistic  Education.  — 
Desiderius  Erasmus1  (1467-1536),  while  still  a  pupil  at 
Deventer,  exhibited  remarkable  ability  in  the  new  learn¬ 
ing,  and  when  he  was  only  eight  his  greatness  is  said  to 
have  been  prophesied  by  Agricola  while  on  a  visit  to 
Hegius.  After  leaving  Deventer,  Erasmus  furthered  his 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  at  the  College  de  Montaigu 

1  His  name  was  originally  Geert  Geerts  (‘Gerard,  the  son  of  Gerard’), 
but  he  turned  Geert ,  which  means  ‘  well-beloved,’  into  its  Latin  and  Greek 
equivalents,  respectively.  See  note  on  p.  147. 


He  recom¬ 
mended  a 
wide  selec¬ 
tion  of 
classic 
authors,  but 
held  to  the 
social  and 
moral  aim. 
While  a  true 
reformer,  he 
never  broke 
from  the 
Church. 


After  study¬ 
ing  classics 
at  Deventer, 
Paris, Oxford, 
and  various 
Italian 
centers, 
Erasmus 
occupied  the 
chair  of 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


divinity  at 
Cambridge 
and  lectured 
gratuitously 
on  Greek. 


He  made 
great  contri¬ 
butions  to 
humanism 
and  social 
reform, 
and  believed 
in  purifying 
by  the  re¬ 
moval  of 
ignorance 
rather  than 
by  a  division 
of  the 
Church. 


150 

at  Paris,  where  in  1499  he  met  a  number  of  English  stu¬ 
dents,  and  was  by  them  induced  to  visit  Oxford.  Here 
he  became  acquainted  with  Colet  and  More,  and  studied 
under  Grocyn  and  Linacre.  Afterward  he  insisted  that 
no  one  need  go  to  Italy,  if  he  could  learn  of  Linacre, 
adding  :  “  To  me  any  one  who  is  truly  learned  is  an  Ital¬ 
ian,  even  if  born  among  savages.”  Yet  Erasmus  could 
not  help  sighing  for  the  Mecca  of  all  devoted  humanists, 
and,  after  struggling  with  poverty  in  the  North  for  seven 
years,  he  at  length  found  it  possible  to  visit  the  ancient 
libraries,  meet  the  learned  men,  and  pursue  the  study  of 
Greek  at  Venice,  Florence,  Padua,  Bologna,  and  Rome. 
In  1 5 10,  he  returned  to  England,  and  for  four  years  occu¬ 
pied  the  chair  of  divinity  at  Cambridge.  During  this 
period  he  also  lectured  gratuitously  upon  Greek,  and 
afforded  Colet  much  help  in  establishing  his  school  at 
St.  Paul’s.  Three  years  later  he  undertook  the  project 
of  a  new  humanistic  college  at  Louvain,  but  in  1422, 
when  the  Reformation  controversies  began,  he  retired  to 
Basel.  In  this  home  of  humanism  and  the  printing  art, 
he  found  time  to  edit,  translate,  and  produce  works  of 
his  own  until  his  death. 

Thus  Erasmus  traveled  widely,  met  all  the  prominent 
scholars  of  his  day,  and  made  great  contributions  to 
humanism  and  social  reform.  While  he  was  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  corruption  and  obscurantism  of  ecclesi¬ 
astics,  he  believed,  like  Wimpfeling,  that  the  remedy  lay, 
not  in  a  division  of  the  Church,  but  in  the  study  of  classics 
and  the  Church  Fathers  and  in  the  general  removal  of 
ignorance.  Accordingly,  he  gave  much  time  to  improv¬ 
ing  the  facilities  for  humanistic  education.  He  helped 
Colet  and  Lily  with  their  Latin  Grammar,1  translated 
into  Latin  the  Greek  grammar  of  Theodore  of  Gaza, 
wrote  a  work  on  Latin  composition,  known  as  De  Copia 
Verborum  et  Rerum ,  and  an  elementary  textbook  of  Latin 
conversations  on  topics  of  the  day,  called  Colloquia ,  trans¬ 
lated  or  edited  a  large  number  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics,  and,  through  his  Adagia  (‘  Adages  ’),  made  the 

1  See  p.  170. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  I  5  I 


sayings  of  the  ancients  familiar  to  all.  Similarly,  he  pro¬ 
duced  an  edition  of  Valla’s  Adnotationes  on  the  New 
Testament,  edited  the  New  Testament  and  translated  it 
into  Latin,  and  popularized  the  Gospels,  and  Jerome  and 
other  Christian  Fathers  through  paraphrases.  Better 
known,  however,  is  the  direct  work  which  Erasmus  per¬ 
formed  in  undertaking  to  reform  the  foibles  and  abuses 
of  his  times  by  means  of  satires.  The  Adagia ,  which 
was  nominally  a  compilation  of  proverbs,  maxims,  and 
witty  sayings,  was  really  intended  to  expose  ecclesiastical 
abuses,  and  the  Colloquia ,  although  in  the  form  of  a  text¬ 
book,  was  a  terrible  arraignment  of  prevailing  conditions 
in  education,  religion,  and  society,  while  his  Encomium 
Moricz(‘  Praise  of  Folly  ’)  mercilessly  scored  the  absurdi¬ 
ties  of  monks  and  priests.  In  his  Dialogus  Ciceronianus 
(‘  Dialogue  on  Ciceronianism  ,),1  as  has  been  pointed  out, 
he  turns  to  a  different  theme.  Here  he  ridicules  the 
narrower  tendency  of  humanism  by  having  its  advocate 
explain  his  system  of  education  and  translate  the  Chris¬ 
tian  creed  into  the  heavy  pagan  conceptions  of  Cicero. 

Erasmus  also  made  positive  contributions  to  educa¬ 
tional  theory,  and,  besides  his  references  to  the  subject 
in  the  Colloquia  and  Ciceronianus ,  he  wrote  De  Pueris 
Statim  ac  Liberaliter  Instituendis  (‘  On  the  Liberal 
Education  of  Children  from  the  Beginning’),  De  Ratione 
Studii  (‘On  the  Right  Method  of  Study’),  De  Civilitate 
Morum  Puerilium  (‘On  Courtesy  of  Manners  in  Boys  ’), 
and  other  treatises.  His  statement  of  the  aim  of  educa¬ 
tion  is  best  given  in  the  De  Civilitate ,  where  he  says  :  — 

“The  first  and  most  important  part  is  that  the  youthful  mind  may 
absorb  the  seeds  of  piety ;  next,  that  it  may  love  and  thoroughly 
learn  the  liberal  arts ;  third,  that  it  may  be  prepared  for  the  duties 
of  life  ;  and  fourth,  that  it  may  from  the  earliest  years  be  straightway 
accustomed  to  the  rudiments  of  good  manners.” 

These  ideals,  —  piety,  learning,  moral  duty,  and 
manners,  which  he  repeatedly  approaches  elsewhere 
from  different  angles,  are  connected  each  with  the  other, 
and  together  stand  for  all  that  goes  to  make  up  social 

1  See  pp.  136  f. 


To  reform 
abuses,  he 
wrote  sat¬ 
ires, — 
Adagia, 
Colloquia, 
Encomium 
Morice,  and 
Dialogus 
Ciceronianus. 


He  also 
produced 
educational 
treatises,  — 
Colloquia, 
Ciceronianus , 
De  Pueris, 
De  Ratione, 
and  De 
Civilitate. 


His  educa¬ 
tional  aim 
was  a  combi 
nation  of 
piety,  learn¬ 
ing,  morals, 
and  man¬ 
ners. 


152 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  content 
and  method 
of  education 
in  childhood 
with  the 
mother, 


and,  after 
seven,  with 
the  father, 
with  a 

tutor,  or  in  a 
day  school. 


efficiency.  The  religious  is  not  looked  upon  as  some¬ 
thing  distinct  from  the  rest  of  training,  for  in  the 
plan  of  Erasmus,  all  that  illumines  the  individual  is  held 
to  elevate  him  and  the  social  order  of  which  he  is  a 
part.  Accordingly,  Erasmus  appears  everywhere  to 
believe  in  universal  education,  —  education  for  the  poor 
as  well  as  the  rich,  for  women  as  for  men,  and  holds 
that  the  amount  and  kind  of  education  should  be  based 
upon  ability  rather  than  upon  wealth,  birth,  or  sex.  In 
the  De  Pueris  he  shows  that  education  should  start  in 
infancy,  and  that  children  should  be  trained  by  their 
mothers  in  health,  habits,  and  control  until  they  are 
six  or  seven  years  of  age.  The  elements  of  reading, 
writing,  and  drawing,  and  some  knowledge  of  familiar 
objects  and  animals,  should  also  be  given  them  at  this 
time  by  methods  as  informal  as  possible.  He  advises 
the  use  of  stories,  pictures,  games,  and  object  teaching 
rather  than  mere  memory,  and,  with  a  belief  in  such 
appeals  to  interest,  he  naturally  feels  that  “  teaching  by 
beating  is  not  a  liberal  education,  and  the  schoolmaster 
should  not  indulge  in  too  strong  and  too  frequent  lan¬ 
guage  of  blame.” 

At  seven  the  boy’s  education  is  to  be  taken  over  by 
his  father,  or,  in  case  that  is  impossible,  by  a  tutor  or  a 
day  school.  Now  he  is  to  be  given  a  thorough  human¬ 
istic  training  in  the  Scriptures,  the  Christian  Fathers, 
and  the  classics.  The  Greek  and  Latin  authors  that 
should  be  read  and  the  methods  of  teaching  the  classics 
are  detailed  in  the  De  Ratione.  These  subjects,  Erasmus 
believes,  present  all  that  is  needed  as  a  standard  of  liv¬ 
ing  or  for  a  reformation  of  society,  but  he  maintains  that 
a  sufficient  range  must  be  had  to  get  fully  into  their 
spirit.  Grammar,  too,  is  to  be  studied  only  as  a  neces¬ 
sary  gate  to  literature  and  the  content  of  the  classical 
writers.  At  the  outset  of  theZV  Ratione ,  Erasmus  says: 


“  But  I  must  make  my  conviction  clear  that,  whilst  a  knowledge 
of  the  rules  of  accidence  and  syntax  is  most  necessary  to  every  stu¬ 
dent,  still  they  should  be  as  few,  as  simple,  and  as  carefully  framed 
as  possible.  I  have  no  patience  with  the  stupidity  of  the  average 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 53 


teacher  of  grammar,  who  wastes  precious  years  in  hammering  rules 
into  children’s  heads.  For  it  is  not  by  learning  rules  that  we  acquire 
the  power  of  speaking  a  language,  but  by  daily  intercourse  with  those 
accustomed  to  express  themselves  with  exactness  and  refinement,  and 
by  the  copious  reading  of  the  best  authors.  Upon  this  latter  point 
we  do  well  to  choose  such  works  as  are  not  only  sound  models  of  style, 
but  are  instructive  by  reason  of  their  subject  matter.  .  .  .  Some 
proficiency  of  expression  being  thus  attained,  the  student  devotes  his 
attention  to  the  co7itent  of  ancient  literatures.  It  is  true,  of  course, 
that  in  reading  an  author  for  purposes  of  vocabulary  and  style  the 
student  cannot  fail  to  gather  something  beside.  But  I  have  in  mind 
much  more  than  this  when  I  speak  of  studying  ‘content.’  For  I 
affirm  that  with  slight  qualification  the  whole  of  attainable  knowledge 
lies  inclosed  within  the  literary  monuments  of  ancient  Greece.  This 
great  inheritance  I  will  compare  to  a  limpid  spring  of  whose 
undefiled  waters  it  behooves  all  who  truly  thirst  to  drink  and  be 
restored.” 


Therefore,  he  holds  that  mythology,  geography,  agri¬ 
culture,  architecture,  military  tactics,  natural  history, 
astronomy,  history,  music,  and  other  subjects,  must  be 
studied  for  the  sake  of  the  light  they  throw  upon  clas¬ 
sical  writers.  Informal  methods  are  also  to  be  continued 
during  this  stage.  A  vocabulary  is  first  to  be  acquired 
through  objects  and  conversation,  and  even  when  formal 
grammar  is  taken  up,  he  holds  that  it  should  never  be  an 
end  in  itself. 

Hence  the  humanism  of  Erasmus  is  of  the  broader 
sort.  It  involves  a  grasp  of  ideas  and  content,  and  is 
not  confined  to  a  mere  study  of  language  and  form,  and 
the  methods  of  acquisition  appeal  to  interest.  But  while 
both  his  ideals  and  his  practical  suggestions  in  education 
seem  remarkable  for  the  day,  they  must  have  been 
largely  typical  of  the  Hieronymian  schools  and  of 
Northern  humanism  in  general.  It  simply  represents 
the  culmination  of  the  union  between  the  biblical  train¬ 
ing  of  the  Brethren  and  the  new  education  in  the  classics. 

The  Furstenschulen  and  the  Gymnasien.  —  It  can  thus 
be  seen  what  a  profound  effect  the  Hieronymian  schools 
had  upon  education,  and  how  greatly  those  who  had 
studied  in  them  influenced  the  universities  and  other 
educational  institutions.  But  there  were  other  schools 


The  human¬ 
ism  of  Eras¬ 
mus  is  of  the 
broad  type. 


154 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


*  Fiirsten- 
schulen/ 
endowed 
largely  from 
the  secular¬ 
ized  monas¬ 
teries,  were 
started  by 
the  Protes¬ 
tant  princes 
to  produce 
leaders. 


The 

‘  Gymnasien  ’ 
grew  out  of 
the  cathedral 
and  upper 
burgher 
schools,  and 
were  under 
the  control  of 
the  cities. 


that  were  even  more  directly  the  outgrowth  of  humanism 
in  the  North  than  the  Hieronymian.  The  cathedral, 
burgher,  and  other  city  schools  offered  accommodations 
scarcely  sufficient  for  their  own  locality,  and,  as  they 
had  to  furnish  both  elementary  and  secondary  education 
at  the  same  time,  their  course  was  necessarily  limited. 
Therefore,  to  meet  the  demand  for  well-prepared  officials 
in  church  and  state,  Duke  Moritz  of  Saxony  in  1543 
opened  a  public  boarding-school  in  two  of  his  cities, 
where  the  more  brilliant  sons  of  native  citizens  might  be 
fitted  at  public  expense  for  the  university  and  ecclesi¬ 
astical  and  civil  leadership.  Moritz  afterward  added  to 
the  number  of  these  schools,  and  his  example  was  fol¬ 
lowed  by  the  heads  of  other  Protestant  states  of  Ger¬ 
many,  although  these  state  schools  were  never  very 
numerous.  They  became,  because  of  their  origin,  gen¬ 
erally  known  as  Fiirstenschulen  (‘  princes’  schools  ’),  but, 
since  their  endowment  came  largely  from  the  monas¬ 
teries,  which  had  been  secularized  in  the  Protestant 
states,  they  were  often  popularly  referred  to  as  Kloster- 
schulen  (‘  cloistral  schools  ’).x  While  their  foundation 
came  about  in  a  different  way,  they  greatly  resembled 
the  ‘  court  schools  ’1  2  of  Italy  in  general  aim  and  course 
of  study.  Since  their  chief  purpose  was  to  produce 
leaders,  temporal  and  spiritual,  a  comprehensive  pro¬ 
gram  of  humanistic  studies  almost  equivalent  to  that  of 
the  universities,  was  furnished. 

A  more  typical  and  lasting  institutional  development 
of  the  Renaissance  in  the  North,  however,  was  the  set  of 
schools  known  as  Gymnasien.  They  grew  largely  out 
of  the  old  cathedral  and  upper  burgher  schools,  and 
from  the  beginning  differed  from  both  the  Fiirstenschulen 
and  the  Hieronymian  schools  in  being  under  the  control 
of  the  cities  and  in  not  being  boarding-schools.  This 
tendency  to  establish  humanistic  schools  for  the  benefit 
of  the  municipality,  rather  than  for  state  and  church, 

1  They  were  also  called  Landesschulen.  See  Russell’s  German  Higher 
Schools ,  pp.  38,  98,  140,  144,  and  196-198. 

2  See  pp.  123  and  127  f. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  155 

grew  rapidly  in  the  German  states,  and  the  Fiirsten- 
schulen  were  afterward  merged  in  the  system,  although 
their  course  was  somewhat  beyond  that  of  the  former 
Latin  schools  of  the  cities.  Some  of  the  oldest  and 
most  important  of  these  institutions  for  the  nobility, 
Meissen  (1543),  Pforta  (1543),  Grimma  (1550),  and  Ross- 
leben  (1554),  while  remaining  boarding-schools,  are 
classed  among  the  leading  gymnasia  to-day.  The  Hie- 
ronymian  schools  also  in  most  cases  became  Gymnasien , 
but  some  of  them  came  under  the  control  of  the 
Jesuits. 

The  organization  and  curriculum  of  these  municipal 
humanistic  schools  were  slowly  developed  during  the 
first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  They  substituted 
the  Latin,  and  later  also  the  Greek,  classical  literature 
for  the  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  mediaeval  Latin  of  the 
old  courses,  and  eventually  replaced  the  dialectic  with 
mathematics.  As  peculiar  to  the  Germanic  humanism, 
the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  and  Hebrew  were 
often  added.  The  burgher  school  at  Nuremberg  in 
1495  was  the  first  to  add  ‘poetry,’  or  classical  literature, 
to  its  course,  and  the  other  higher  schools  of  the  various 
cities  soon  took  up  the  subject.  But  the  most  definite 
shaping  of  the  gymnasial  idea  was  effected  through  the 
organization  of  the  Latin  school  at  Eisleben  in  1525, 
and  of  the  system  in  Saxony  three  years  later,  after  the 
plan  of  Melanchthon,  and  through  the  foundation  of  the 
Strasburg  gymnasium  in  1538  by  Sturm.  The  public 
influence  of  these  two  men  was  so  wide  that  a  separate 
treatment  of  their  work  is  required. 

Melanchthon  and  His  Organization  of  Schools.  — 
Through  Reuchlin,  his  scholarly  great-uncle,  Philip  Me- 
lanchthon 1  (1497-1560)  had,  by  the  time  he  was  seven¬ 
teen,  obtained  a  thorough  training  not  only  in  Greek, 
Latin,  Hebrew,  and  biblical  exegesis,  but  in  logic, 
mathematics,  history,  law,  and  medicine.  He  had 

1  He  was  known  as  Schwartzerd  (‘  black  earth  ’)  until,  in  recognition 
of  humanistic  attainments  most  remarkable  for  a  boy,  Reuchlin  translated 
his  surname  into  Greek. 


The 

curriculum. 


The  early 
life  and  edu¬ 
cation  of 
Melanch¬ 
thon. 


156 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


His  lectures 
at  Witten¬ 
berg  upon 
theology  and 
the  classics, 
and  his  work 
in  furthering 
humanistic 
education. 


His  large 
influence. 


been  very  influential  in  reviving  humanism  at  the  Uni¬ 
versities  of  Heidelberg  and  Tubingen,  while  a  student 
there,  and  was  already  considered  one  of  the  most 
learned  scholars  of  the  day.  In  1518,  when  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  asked  Reuchlin  to  recommend  a  young  scholar 
to  teach  Greek  at  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  the 
great  humanist  wrote  in  reply :  — 

“Melanchthon  will  come,  and  he  will  be  an  honor  to  the  uni¬ 
versity.  For  I  know  no  one  among  the  Germans  who  excels  him, 
save  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  and  he  is  more  properly  a  Hollander.” 

As  soon  as  he  had  delivered  his  inaugural  address, 
Melanchthon  became  one  of  the  most  popular  lecturers 
the  institution  had  known,  and  Luther,  who  was  now 
well  established  there,  declared  that  “all  students  of 
theology  are  clamoring  to  learn  Greek.” 

Through  his  association  with  Luther,  Melanchthon 
was  soon  turned  toward  theology,  and  lectured  on  New 
Testament,  Old  Testament,  and  dogmatics  as  well  as  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics.  But  while  he  is  generally 
known  to  history  for  theological  works  and  his  part  in 
the  Reformation,  his  influence  upon  the  education  of  the 
times  was  probably  even  greater.  Except  that  it  was 
limited  to  Germany,  his  work  in  furthering  humanistic 
education  was  similar  to  that  of  Erasmus.  Not  only  did 
Melanchthon  renew  and  extend  humanism  at  Wittenberg, 
as  he  had  previously  done  at  the  other  universities  with 
which  he  had  been  connected,  but  through  him  several 
new  universities  were  founded  on  a  humanistic  basis. 
He  also  wrote  Greek  and  Latin  grammars,  and  produced 
editions  of  various  classics,  and  clear  and  well-arranged 
school  books  upon  rhetoric,  dialectic,  ethics,  history, 
physics,  and  other  subjects.  The  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held  at  the  university  and  his  great  interest  in  his 
students  gave  him  a  peculiar  power  equalled  by  very  few 
teachers.  Hence  his  influence  was  largely  extended 
throughout  Germany  by  means  of  his  pupils,  among 
whom  were  many  of  the  most  renowned  schoolmasters  1 

1  Such,  for  example,  were  Camerarius,  Trotzendorf,  and  Neander.  It 
has  even  been  said  that  every  great  rector,  except  Sturm,  had  been  a  pupil 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  157 


of  the  following  generation.  Likewise,  the  advice  of 
Melanchthon  was  sought  personally  or  through  corre¬ 
spondence  by  princes,  magistrates,  and  educators,  and 
his  genius  for  organization,  methods,  and  texts  was  felt 
everywhere  in  his  native  land.  Small  wonder,  then,  that 
by  the  time  of  his  death  there  was  scarcely  a  city  in  all 
the  German  states  which  had  not  been  touched  by  his 
influence,  or  that  he  has  ever  since  been  by  common 
consent  referred  to  as  Germania  prceceptor. 

The  influence  of  Melanchthon  upon  the  Gymnasien 
came  through  his  educational  recommendations  to  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  in  1528.  He  had  three  years  previ¬ 
ously,  at  the  request  of  the  Count  of  Mansfeld,  organ¬ 
ized  a  school  at  Eisleben,  and  in  1526  had  assisted  in 
the  foundation  of  an  Obereschule  (‘higher  school’)  at 
Nuremberg.  His  success  as  an  organizer  led  in  1527 
to  his  appointment  as  Schulvisitant  for  Saxony,  and 
the  next  year  his  Schulplan ,  contained  in  the  Visita- 
tionsbachy  was  enacted  into  law.  The  Latin  schools, 
which  were  thereby  established  in  every  town  and  vil¬ 
lage  of  the  electorate,  were  to  be  divided  into  three 
classes,  as  had  been  the  school  organized  by  Melanch¬ 
thon  at  Eisleben,  but  his  former  plan  was  somewhat 
simplified  as  the  result  of  experience.  “  The  first  class,” 
he  advised,  “  should  consist  of  those  children  who  are 
learning  to  read  ;  the  second  class  of  those  who  have 
learned  to  read,  and  are  now  ready  to  go  into  grammar ; 
while  when  these  children  have  been  well  trained  in 
grammar,  those  among  them  who  have  made  the  great¬ 
est  proficiency  should  be  taken  out  and  formed  into  the 
third  class.”  In  the  elementary  class  the  children  first 
learned  to  read  and  write  from  a  Latin  primer  prepared 
by  Melanchthon,  which  contained  the  alphabet,  the 
Lutheran  creed,  the  Lord’s  prayer,  and  other  prayers. 
They  then  read  from  the  Grammar  of  Donatus  and  the 
Precepts  of  Cato,  memorized  Latin  words,  and  were 
taught  music.  In  the  next  grade  they  were  trained  in 


His  appoint¬ 
ment  as 
‘  Schul¬ 
visitant  ’ 
for  Saxony 
and  his 
Schulplan. 


His  division 
of  the  schools 
into  three 
classes. 


of  Melanchthon’s,  while  Sturm  was  among  those  who  went  to  him  for 
counsel. 


iS8 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


From  these 
institutions 
the  human¬ 
istic  Gymna- 
sien  sprang. 


The  ideals  of 
Sturm’s 


etymology,  syntax,  and  prosody,  and  read  first  from  such 
easy  works  as  the  Fables  of  yEsop,  the  Pczdology  of 
Mosellanus,  and  the  Colloquies  of  Erasmus,  and  later 
from  the  comedies  of  Plautus  and  Terence.  More 
specific  attention  was  also  given  to  the  Scriptures,  the 
Lord’s  prayer,  the  creed,  the  Commandments,  the  Psalms, 
the  Proverbs,  the  Gospels,  and  the  Epistles.  The  youths 
who  were  selected  for  the  highest  class  read  Vergil, 
Ovid,  and  Cicero,  and  were  given  a  more  thorough  train¬ 
ing  in  grammar,  especially  prosody,  and  in  logic  and 
rhetoric.  The  pupils  of  the  two  upper  grades  were 
also  practiced  constantly  in  Latin  composition,  and  were 
required  to  converse  in  Latin  almost  exclusively. 

These  institutions  of  Saxony  were  thus  intended 
chiefly  to  fit  boys  for  the  university,  and  were  rather 
narrow  in  ideals  and  course.  They  were  literally  ‘  Latin’ 
schools,  for  no  Greek  or  Hebrew  appears  anywhere  in 
the  course ;  much  less  the  vernacular,  mathematics, 
science,  or  history.  Nevertheless,  it  was  from  these 
municipal  secondary  schools,  when  the  course  had  been 
somewhat  modified  and  expanded,  that  the  Gyninasien 
sprang.  A  generation  later  the  general  plan  in  a  modi¬ 
fied  form  was  copied  by  the  duchy  of  Wurtemberg,  and 
other  states  followed  the  example  until  the  ‘  gymnasium  ’ 
became  the  chief  type  of  school  in  the  German  system. 

Sturm’s  Gymnasium  at  Strasburg.  —  But  an  educator 
who  gave  a  greater  impulse  to  the  foundation  of  Gym- 
nasien ,  and,  as  a  practical  schoolmaster,  had  more  influ¬ 
ence  upon  their  course,  was  Johann  Sturm  (1507-1589). 
This  man  was  the  organizer,  and  for  forty-five  years  the 
rector,  of  the  famous  classical  school  or  gymnasium  at 
Strasburg.  He  had  received  a  humanistic  training  at 
the  Hieronymian  school  at  Liege  and  at  the  Universities 
of  Louvain  and  Paris.  By  the  time  of  his  call  to  Stras¬ 
burg,  at  thirty-one  years  of  age,  he  had  a  large  reputa¬ 
tion  as  a  classical  scholar  and  a  private  teacher  of  Greek 
and  Latin. 

Sturm  had  a  definite  set  of  ideals  for  his  school,  which 
he  states  as  follows :  — 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  159 


u  A  wise  and  persuasive  piety  should  be  the  aim  of  our  studies. 
But  were  all  pious,  then  the  student  should  be  distinguished  from 
him  who  is  unlettered  by  scientific  culture  and  the  art  of  speaking. 
Hence,  knowledge  and  purity  and  eloquence  of  diction  should  be¬ 
come  the  aim  of  scholarship,  and  toward  its  attainment  both  teachers 
and  pupils  should  sedulously  bend  every  effort.'” 

In  other  words,  as  Sturm  puts  it  more  tersely  else¬ 
where,  “  the  end  to  be  accomplished  by  teaching  is 
threefold,  and  includes  piety,  knowledge,  and  eloquence.” 
‘  Piety  ’  he  believed  to  be  cultivated  mainly  through  the 
catechism  and  creed,  while  ‘  knowledge  ’  with  him 
consisted  chiefly  in  an  acquaintance  with  the  Latin  and 
some  of  the  Greek  literature,  and  ‘  eloquence  ’  meant 
the  ability  to  speak  and  write  Latin  readily  and  ele¬ 
gantly,  so  that  it  might  be  used  as  a  medium  of  inter¬ 
course  in  the  outside  world.  Hence  his  ideals,  which 
seem  to  have  been  practically  those  of  his  contem¬ 
poraries,  except  that  they  were  more  clearly  expressed, 
were  more  restricted  than  those  of  Erasmus,  or  possibly 
even  of  Melanchthon. 

To  attain  these  educational  ends,  Sturm  worked  out 
a  gymnasial  organization  of  ten  classes,1  upon  which 
the  pupils  entered  at  six  or  seven  years  of  age.  This 
was  to  be  followed  by  a  university  course  for  five  years 
more.  The  content  of  the  course  in  the  gymnasium, 
which  alone  concerns  us  here,  is  well  known  from  the 
sketch  given  in  his  Best  Method  of  Opening  an  Institu¬ 
tion  of  Learning,  published  at  the  founding  of  the 
school,  from  the  Classic  Letters  of  instruction  written  to 
the  teachers  of  the  various  classes  in  1565,  and  from  the 
records  of  a  general  examination  of  the  school,  which 
took  place  still  thirteen  years  later.  As  these  three 
documents  agree  in  all  essentials,  it  would  seem  that 
there  was  little  change  in  the  curriculum  during  the 
management  of  Sturm.2  For  ‘piety,’  the  Lutheran 

1  In  his  original  plan  he  had  only  nine  classes,  but,  from  the  Classic 
Letters  and  the  examination  records,  it  would  seem  that  this  number  was 
increased  to  ten. 

2  The  course  is  given  in  full  by  classes  in  Barnard’s  German  Teachers 
and  Educators ,  pp.  196-208. 


school, — 
piety,  knowl¬ 
edge,  and 
eloquence. 


Its  organiza¬ 
tion  into  ten 
classes,  to  be 
followed  by 
a  university 
course  of  five 
years. 


The  curricu¬ 
lum  in  the 
ten  classes. 


Sturm  shows 
the  formal- 


160  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

catechism  was  studied  in  German  for  three  years,  and 
in  Latin  for  three  years  longer.  The  Sunday  Sermons 
were  read  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  years,  and  the  Letters 
of  Jerome  also  in  the  fifth  year,  while  the  Epistles  of 
Paul  were  carefully  studied  from  the  sixth  year  through 
the  rest  of  the  course.  On  the  ‘  knowledge  ’  and  ‘  elo¬ 
quence  ’  side,  Latin  grammar  was  begun  immediately 
and  the  drill  continued  for  four  years,  during  which  the 
pupil  passed  gradually  from  memorizing  lists  of  words 
used  in  everyday  life  and  reading  dialogues  that  em¬ 
bodied  them  to  the  translation  of  Cicero  and  the  easier 
Latin  poets.  In  the  fourth  year  exercises  in  style  were 
begun,  and  this  was  accompanied  by  a  grammatical  and 
literary  study  of  Cicero,  Vergil,  Plautus,  Terence,  Mar¬ 
tial,  Horace,  Sallust,  and  other  authors,  together  with 
letter  writing,  declamation,  disputation,  and  the  acting 
of  plays.  Greek  was  begun  in  the  fifth  year,  and 
after  three  years  of  grammatical  training,  Demosthenes, 
the  dramatists,  Homer,  and  Thucydides  were  under¬ 
taken. 

While  other  authors  than  Cicero  were  read,  the  object 
of  this  training  clearly  was  to  acquire  an  ability  to  read, 
write,  and  speak  Ciceronian  Latin.  Words,  phrases,  and 
expressions  from  Cicero’s  works  were  carefully  committed 
to  memory,  and  the  main  emphasis  throughout  was 
upon  form,  with  little  regard  for  content.  The  Latin 
and  Greek  were  largely  regarded  as  an  end  in  them¬ 
selves.  The  last  three  grades  made  a  little  study  of 
rhetoric,  and  the  highest  included  a  little  logic,  astron¬ 
omy,  and  geometry,  but  otherwise  there  were  no  studies 
besides  the  classics  and  religion.  The  mother  tongue 
was  neglected,  no  mention  was  made  of  geography,  his¬ 
tory,  or  natural  sciences,  and  but  little  of  mathematics, 
and  there  was  no  connection  indicated  between  the 
school  and  the  world  outside.  Under  these  circum¬ 
stances,  it  would  be  surprising  if  the  chief  educational 
methods  were  not  those  of  imitation  and  memory. 

Obviously,  toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
humanism  had  come  to  be  about  as  formal  and  narrow 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  l6l 


in  Germany  as  in  Italy.  Sturm  would  have  made  as  good 
a  subject  for  the  satire  of  Erasmus  as  Bembo  or  any 
other  of  the  Italian  Ciceronians.  Yet  his  gymnasium 
was  an  enormous  success,  and  profoundly  influenced 
not  only  the  education  of  his  own  times,  but  of  the 
next  three  centuries.  Students  flocked  into  Strasburg 
by  thousands,  among  them  many  youthful  noblemen 
and  princes,  and  Sturm  seems  to  have  trained  most 
of  the  leading  educators  of  the  next  generation.  His 
pupils  became  the  headmasters  of  all  the  most  promi¬ 
nent  schools  and  organized  many  new  institutions  of 
repute  beside.1  Moreover,  through  his  wide  correspond¬ 
ence  and  personal  advice  to  sovereigns  and  others,  and 
through  his  textbooks,  the  course  of  study  formulated  by 
Sturm  became  a  model  not  only  for  Germany,  but,  in  a 
sense,  for  the  rest  of  Europe.  Even  more  than  Melanch- 
thon’s  recommendations,  Sturm’s  practice  affected  the 
code  introduced  into  Wiirtemberg  by  Duke  Christopher 
in  1559,  and  the  reorganization  in  Saxony  by  Elector 
Augustus  I  in  1580.  Since  his  day,  mathematics,  mod¬ 
ern  languages,  and  the  natural  sciences  have  somewhat 
mitigated  the  amount  of  classics  prescribed,  and  in  many 
instances  Hebrew  has  also  been  added,  but  otherwise  the 
humanistic  Gymnasien  are  essentially  the  same  as  in  the 
day  of  their  originator,  Johann  Sturm. 

The  Early  Humanistic  Movement  in  England.  —  In  its 
northward  march,  humanism  came  also  into  England, 
and  in  this  country  effected  profound  changes.  Here 
learning  had  sunk  into  scholasticism  and  inactivity,  but  a 
revival  was  started  early  in  the  fifteenth  century  through 
the  efforts  of  Humphrey ,  Duke  of  Gloucester.  This  noble 
patron  of  learning  gathered  about  himself  practically  all 
the  native  scholars  of  the  period,  and  brought  from  Italy 
several  of  the  younger  humanists,  who  translated  the 
classics  and  introduced  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance. 
He  also  afforded  financial  assistance  to  the  work  of  the 
older  Italian  humanists,  who  could  not  be  induced  to 

1  Sturm  himself  founded  schools  at  Lauingen,  Trasbach,  and  Hornbach; 
his  pupil  Schenck  at  Augsburg;  and  his  pupil  Crusius  at  Meminger. 

M 


ism  in 

Northern 

humanism 

toward  the 

close  of  the 

sixteenth 

century. 


The  influ¬ 
ence  of 
Sturm. 


♦ 


The  efforts 
of  Hum¬ 
phrey,  Duke 
of  Glouces¬ 
ter. 


162 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Oxford 

scholars 

visited 

Italian 

centers  of 

humanism. 


Greek  was 
introduced 
into  educa¬ 
tion  in  Eng¬ 
land  through 
the  visit  of 
Grocyn, 


Linacre, 


come  to  England,  gave  a  large  number  of  Greek  and 
Latin  books  and  manuscripts  to  Oxford,  where  he  had 
studied,  and  in  every  way  encouraged  reforms  in  the 
education  of  the  times.  ^Eneas  Sylvius,1  in  writing  to 
the  Bishop  of  Chichester  in  1444  concerning  the  human¬ 
istic  awakening  in  England,  declares  :  — 

“  For  this  advance  all  gratitude  is  due  to  the  illustrious  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  who  zealously  received  polite  learning  into  your  king¬ 
dom.  I  hear  that  he  cultivates  poets  and  venerates  orators ;  hence 
many  Englishmen  now  turn  out  really  eloquent.  For  as  are  the 
princes,  so  are  the  people ;  servants  progress  through  imitating  their 
masters.” 

Greek  at  Oxford.  —  As  the  result  of  the  impetus  thus 
afforded,  by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  many 
former  students  of  Oxford  began  to  visit  the  various 
centers  in  Italy  and  obtain  the  inspiration  of  humanism 
at  first  hand.  Through  them  the  number  of  manu¬ 
scripts,  translations,  and  classical  scholars  in  England 
was  greatly  increased,  but  for  a  generation  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  these  innovators  was  not  seriously  felt  upon 
education.  Toward  the  end  of  the  century,  however, 
there  migrated  to  Italy  a  new  group  of  Oxford  men,  who 
succeeded  in  their  united  effort  to  advance  humanistic 
training  in  England.  This  movement  began  in  earnest 
with  the  labors  of  the*  three  friends,  Grocyn,  Linacre, 
and  Latimer,  who  had  gone  to  Florence  about  1488,  and 
undertook  to  introduce  Greek  into  education  upon  their 
return  home. 

William  Grocyn  (1442-15 19),  after  the  visit  to  Italy, 
became  the  first  lecturer  on  Greek  at  Oxford,2  where  he 
found  the  excellent  library  donated  by  Duke  Humphrey  of 
great  service.  He  also  lectured  upon  the  Pseudo-Dio¬ 
nysius  and  began  his  work  in  Bible  criticism,  but  left  few 
works,  as,  like  most  humanists  of  his  period,  he  disliked 
publicity.  Thomas  Linacre  (1460-1524),  while  in  Italy, 
became  interested  in  Aristotle,  and  was  led  to  the  study 

1  See  p.  130. 

2  Erasmus  declares  that  Grocyn  had  taught  Greek  before  going  to 
Italy,  but  if  so,  it  could  not  have  been  with  any  degree  of  influence. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  163 


of  natural  science  and  medicine  at  Padua,  where  he  was 
also  a  professor  for  a  time.  But  he  had  become  well 
versed  in  classics,  rhetoric,  and  dialectic,  as  well  as  in 
his  chosen  specialty,  and  while  lecturing  on  medicine  at 
Oxford,  he  also  taught  Greek  and  Latin,  and  assisted 
Grocyn  in  training  Erasmus,  More,  and  Colet.  So  ver¬ 
satile  a  scholar  was  he  that  it  was  doubted  whether  he 
were  “a  better  Latinist  or  Grecian,  a  better  grammarian 
or  physician,’ ’  and  Erasmus  wrote  Latimer  that  with 
Linacre  as  his  teacher  he  had  found  no  need  of  going 
to  Italy.1  His  correspondence  with  humanists  in  all 
lands  was  very  extensive,  and  he  had  everywhere  a 
great  influence.  William  Latimer  (1460-1545),  the 
last  of  the  Oxford  trio,  attained  less  distinction  as  a 
scholar,  largely  because  of  his  extreme  modesty.  He 
was,  however,  a  deep  student  of  Greek,  and,  according 
to  Erasmus,  a  man  of  eminent  learning.  When  once 
the  work  of  these  Oxonians  was  well  under  way,  English 
scholars  in  increasing  numbers  were  stimulated  to  seek 
a  training  at  the  Italian  centers,  and  returned  to  spread 
the  gospel  of  humanism.2 

Greek  at  Cambridge. — Humanism  did  not  reach  Cam¬ 
bridge,  however,  until  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
but  with  the  progress  of  the  sixteenth  that  university 
rapidly  overtook  its  sister  institution.  The  development 
of  humanistic  education  appeared  at  Cambridge  first 
through  Bishop  Fisher ,  who  became  Chancellor  of  the 
University  in  1504.  Through  him  the  Countess  of 
Richmond,  mother  of  Henry  VII,  was  induced  to  found 
and  endow  three  humanistic  colleges  for  the  university. 
He  also  encouraged  Erasmus,  while  a  professor  of 
divinity  at  Cambridge,  1510-1 514,  to  lecture  upon  Greek 
as  a  labor  of  love.  Among  the  pupils  of  Erasmus  was 
Richard  Croke ,  who  afterward  lectured  upon  Greek  in 
Cologne,  Louvain,  Leipzig,  and  other  places,  and  in  1519 

1  See  p.  150.  Erasmus  also  includes  Tunstall  in  this  declaration. 

2  This  movement  was  greatly  assisted  by  the  quieter  conditions  that 
began  to  settle  upon  England  under  the  strong  hand  of  the  Tudors. 
Peace  and  the  liberal  arts  flourished  together. 


and  Latimer. 


Through 
Bishop 
Fisher,  Eras¬ 
mus  was  in¬ 
duced  to 
lecture  on 
Greek  at 
Cambridge, 
and  he  was 
succeeded  by 
Croke, 

Smith, 

Cheke,  and 
Ascham. 


More  and 
Wolsey  per¬ 
suaded  the 
king  to  sup¬ 
port  the 
humanists. 


164  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

returned  to  Cambridge  to  teach  the  subject.  While  for 
a  time  after  this,  Hellenic  learning  was  suppressed  at 
Cambridge  by  Wolsey,  out  of  opposition  to  Fisher,  in 
1 5 3 3  Sir  Thomas  Smith  gave  lectures  upon  it,  and  seven 
years  later  one  of  the  new  regius  (‘  royal  ’)  professorships 
was  founded  for  Greek,  and  Sir  John  Cheke  (15 14-1557) 
became  the  first  incumbent.  Cheke  succeeded  in  pro¬ 
moting  the  subject  more  than  any  who  had  preceded 
him,  not  by  advocating  it  loudly,  but  through  reading 
the  Greek  authors  with  select  pupils  and  covering  as 
much  ground  as  possible.  Like  most  Northern  human¬ 
ists,  he  also  used  his  Greek  for  the  interpretation  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  produced  a  translation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew.  However,  within  four  years  he  was 
appointed  Latin  tutor  to  Prince  Edward,  and  was  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  the  chair  at  Cambridge  by  his  pupil  and  con¬ 
temporary,  Roger  Ascham  (1515-1568).  Four  years 
later  Ascham,  too,  resigned,  in  order  to  become  the 
tutor  in  Greek  and  Latin  to  Princess  Elizabeth.  The 
influence  of  Ascham,  however,  extended  far  beyond 
the  university,  and  lasted  long  after  his  death  through  the 
posthumous  publication  of  his  work  called  The  Schole- 
master.  Of  this  we  must  speak  more  fully  later  on.1 

Humanistic  Influences  at  the  Court.  —  A  more  power¬ 
ful  source  of  influence  than  the  progressive  scholars  of 
the  universities  in  developing  humanism  in  England  was 
that  found  at  the  royal  court.  Here  the  humanistic 
training  possessed,  in  addition  to  the  royal  tutors  Cheke 
and  Ascham,  an  especially  stanch  supporter  in  Sir 
Thomas  More  (1478-1  535),  and  through  him  in  Cardinal 
Wolsey ,  and  even  the  king,  Henry  VIII.  When  Greek 
and  New  Testament  exegesis  were  being  violently  opposed 
in  Oxford  by  a  group  of  scholastics  and  heresy-hunters,2 
these  subjects  would  probably  have  been  rooted  out, 
had  it  not  been  for  More  and  his  standing  with  the  king. 
That  statesman  finally  wrote  the  university  authorities  a 

1  See  pp.  1 66  f. 

2  This  was  the  party  of  ‘Trojans,’  so-called  from  their  war  upon  the 
Greeks. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  165 


letter,  censuring  the  conservatives  and  declaring  that,  if 
they  did  not  desist,  the  institution  would  lose  the  good¬ 
will  of  the  king,  of  its  patron,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  of 
its  chancellor,  Archbishop  Warham.  This  speedily 
silenced  the  opposition. 

The  humanists  of  the  court  also  made  positive  contri¬ 
butions  to  classical  education.  More  himself  had  been 
educated  at  Oxford.  He  learned  Greek  under  Grocyn  and 
Linacre,  and,  during  his  career  at  the  bar  and  in  politics, 
continued  his  studies  in  the  classics.  In  1516  he  wrote 
in  Latin  his  Utopia ,  which  was  the  story  of  an  imaginary 
commonwealth  whose  manners,  laws,  education,  and 
other  conditions  might  be  a  model  for  England.  With 
the  Utopians  education  was  depicted  as  universal  and 
covering  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  and  when  they  heard 
of  the  Greek  learning,  they  made  haste  to  acquire  this  also. 

Elyot’s  Govemour . —  Sir  Thomas  Elyot  (1490-1546) 
was  another  government  official  to  write  on  the  humanistic 
education.  His  father  had  been  a  member  of  the  group 
about  More,  and  while  he  himself  had  not  been  at  either 
of  the  universities,  he  had  grown  up  in  the  atmosphere 
of  the  classics  and  had  the  benefit  of  Linacre’s  instruction. 
Even  during  his  activities  in  officialdom  and  diplomacy, 
he  found  time  to  indulge  his  love  of  classics  and  literary 
work.  In  middle  life  he  retired  entirely  from  public 
life,  to  devote  himself  to  translation  and  educational 
writing,  and  published,  among  other  humanistic  works, 
The  Boke  named  the  Govemour.  This  treatise  described 
the  education  of  boys  for  statesmanship,  which  he  held 
to  consist  especially  in  a  training  in  Greek  and  Latin 
literature,  and  maintained  :  “  Grammar  being  but  an  in¬ 
troduction  to  the  understanding  of  authors,  if  it  be  made 
too  long  or  exquisite  [i.e.  elaborate]  to  the  learner,  it  in  a 
manner  mortifieth  his  courage.  And  by  that  time  he 
come  to  the  most  sweet  and  pleasant  reading  of  old 
authors,  the  sparkes  of  fervent  desire  of  learning  is  extinct 
with  the  burden  of  grammar.”  1 

1 A  good  account  of  The  Govemour  can  be  found  in  Woodward’s  Edu¬ 
cation  during  the  Renaissance ,  Chapter  XIII,  1. 


More  and 
his  Utopia, 


The  Govern- 
our  of  Sir 
Thomas 
Elyot  held 
the  classics 
to  be  the  best 
training  for 
statesman¬ 
ship. 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Vives,  the 
Spanish 
humanist, 
was  brought 
to  England 
by  Wolsey. 


The  Sckole- 
master  of 
Ascham 
recommends 
the  teaching 
of  Latin  and 
Greek  by 
4  double 
translation.’ 


1 66 

Educational  Works  of  Vives. — Contemporaneously 
with  Elyot,  Wolsey  brought  to  England  the  Spanish 
scholar,  Juan  Luis  Vives  (1492-1540),  who  had  been  a 
friend  of  Budaeus  and  Erasmus.  Vives  had  been  given 
a  humanistic  education  in  Valencia,  Paris,  and  Louvain, 
and  had  lectured  upon  classical  subjects  at  the  last-named 
place.  In  England  he  gave  lectures  upon  the  humanities 
at  Oxford,  wrote  a  manual  upon  the  rudiments  for 
Princess  Mary,  and  dedicated  his  work  upon  Christian 
education  to  the  queen.  Both  these  and  his  chief  treatise, 
De  Tradendis  Disciplinis  (‘On  the  Transmission  of 
Learning’),  which,  with  several  other  educational  works, 
he  wrote  after  leaving  England,  insist  strongly  upon 
religion  and  classics  as  the  main  content  of  education, 
although,  more  than  any  other  Northern  humanist,  the 
proud  Castilian  finds  an  educational  value  in  his  native 
language. 

Ascham’s  Scholemaster  and  the  Teaching  of  Latin.  — 
But  the  best  known  treatise  on  education  written  by  any 
English  humanist  was  The  Scholemaster  of  Ascham, 
already  mentioned.1  This  book  was  produced  by  request 
after  a  conversation  in  which  Ascham  had  taken  strong 
ground  against  the  severity  of  school  discipline  then  in 
vogue,  and  declared  it  unnecessary  if  the  proper  course 
of  instruction  were  provided.  As  its  name  implies,  the 
work  deals  purely  with  the  formal  education  of  the 
school.  It  is  not  altogether  original,  but  is  based  largely 
upon  the  principles  of  the  best  classical  writers  on 
education,  —  Plato,  Aristotle,  Cicero,  and  Quintilian, 
and  the  works  of  the  leading  Northern  humanists,  such 
as  Budaeus,  Erasmus,  Sturm,  and  Elyot.  The  method 
of  teaching  and  learning  Latin  and  Greek  is  especially 
treated  in  The  Scholemaster.  As  soon  as  the  rudiments 
of  Latin  have  been  acquired,  Ascham  recommends  that 
the  student  begin  with  his  famous  method  of  ‘  double 
translation.’ 2  His  plan  is  as  follows  :  — 

1  See  p.  164. 

2  There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  Ascham  took  this  method  from 
his  old  teacher,  Cheke,  who  used  it  in  tutoring  Prince  Edward. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 67 


“  The  childe  must  take  a  paper  booke,  and  sitting  in  some  place, 
where  no  man  shall  prompe  him,  by  him  selfe,  let  him  translate  into 
Englishe  his  former  lesson.  Then  shewing  it  to  his  master,  let  the 
master  take  from  him  his  latin  booke,  and  pausing  an  houre,  at  the 
least,  than  let  the  childe  translate  his  own  Englishe  into  latin 
againe,  in  an  other  paper  booke.  When  the  childe  bringeth  it, 
turned  into  latin,  the  master  must  compare  it  with  Tullies  booke,  and 
laie  them  both  togitber.” 

In  this  way  the  pupil  can  be  taught  grammar  in  con¬ 
nection  with  his  reading  and  much  more  pleasantly  than 
by  means  of  abstract  rules.  “  For  whan  the  Master 
shall  compare  Tullies  booke  with  his  Scholers  transla¬ 
tion,  let  the  Master,  at  the  first,  lead  and  teach  his 
Scholer,  to  joyne  the  Rewles  of  his  Grammer  booke, 
with  the  examples  of  his  present  lesson,  untill  the  Scholer, 
by  him  selfe,  be  hable  to  fetch  out  of  his  Grammer, 
everie  Rewle,  for  everie  Example. ”  Greek  he  advises 
to  be  taught  in  a  similar  way.  By  this  method  he 
declares  that  his  royal  pupil,  Elizabeth,  “  hath  atteyned 
to  soch  a  perfite  understanding  in  both  the  tonges  [i.  e. 
Latin  and  Greek]  as  they  be  fewe  in  nomber  in  both  the 
universities  or  els  where  in  England  comparable  with 
her  maiestie.”  He  then  passes  some  severe  criticisms 
upon  the  schools  of  the  day  for  their  inefficiency  and 
want  of  economy.  Their  chief  error  consists  in  using 
translation  only  of  the  single  sort  and  in  hobbying  con¬ 
stantly  upon  grammar.  Their  discipline,  he  feels,  is 
naturally  very  harsh  and  brutal,  when  such  dull  methods 
are  employed.  With  the  appeal  to  interest  that  he  has 
proposed,  there  will  be  no  need  of  corporal  punishment. 
In  the  second  book,  which  is  of  little  importance  here, 
The  Scholemaster  treats  of  style,  or  “  the  ready  way  to 
the  Latin  tong.” 

John  Colet  and  His  School  at  St.  Paul's.  — The  human¬ 
istic  changes  in  English  education  and  sentiment  were 
not,  however,  limited  to  the  universities,  the  court,  or 
the  theorists.  Of  far  greater  importance  than  the  en¬ 
riched  curriculum  of  the  universities  or  the  broader  ideals 
of  the  times  was  the  effect  of  humanism  upon  the  schools 
of  England.  The  most  important  factor  in  bringing 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


1 68 


The  human¬ 
ist,  Dean 
Colet, 
founded  a 
school  at 
St.  Paul’s, 
which  com¬ 
bined  re¬ 
ligious 
training  with 
a  study  of  the 
classics. 


about  the  enlarged  purpose  and  curriculum  was  the 
foundation  of  St.  Paul’s  School  in  1 509 1  by  John  Colet 
(1466-1519).  Colet  had  studied  at  Oxford  under  Grocyn 
and  Linacre,  and  had  Erasmus  as  his  closest  friend. 
He  then  spent  three  or  four  years  in  Italy,  where  he 
was  especially  attracted  by  Neoplatonism  and  Bible 
criticism.  Upon  returning  to  England,  he  lectured 
gratuitously  at  Oxford  upon  the  Pauline  Epistles  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  author’s  social  environment,  and 
upon  the  Pseudo-Dionysius.  He  referred  to  humanistic 
rather  than  scholastic  authorities,  and  his  lectures 
attracted  not  only  the  students  of  the  university,  but 
many  prominent  churchmen  from  outside.  In  1505, 
having  been  made  Dean  of  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral  in 
London,  he  started  in  earnest  upon  a  campaign  of  re¬ 
form.  With  the  aid  of  Grocyn  and  Erasmus,  he  opened 
lectures  upon  divinity,  especially  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  in 
which  he  strove  to  replace  ecclesiastical  traditions  with 
a  purer  Testament.  This  naturally  aroused  the  opposi¬ 
tion  of  some  of  his  conservative  superiors.  As  Erasmus 
wrote  to  a  friend:  “The  Dean  had  never  stood  right 
with  the  Bishop,  who  was  a  very  rigid  Scotist,  and  the 
more  jealous  of  the  Dean,  because  his  lectures  and  ser¬ 
mons  were  chiefly  employed  in  opening  the  sense  of  the 
Scriptures,  which  being  in  the  new  way  of  learning,  was 
called  heresy .” 

But  persecution  only  made  Colet  the  more  determined 
in  the  cause  of  humanism,  purer  religion,  and  the 
advancement  of  humanity,  and  he  decided  to  devote 
most  of  the  fortune  left  him  by  his  father  to  establish  a 
humanistic  school  in  St.  Paul’s  Churchyard,  dedicated  to 
‘the  child  Jesus.’  Our  best  description  of  this  school 
also  comes  from  his  friend  Erasmus,  who  tells  us :  — 


“  He  added  dwelling-houses  for  the  two  masters,  and  to  them 
allotted  ample  salaries,  that  they  might  teach  a  certain  number  of 
boys  free,  and  for  the  sake  of  charity.  He  divided  the  school  into 

1  The  date  of  the  foundation  of  St.  Paul’s  is  variously  placed  between 
1508  and  1512  by  different  authorities. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  169 


four  apartments.  The  first  was  for  catechumens,  or  the  children  to 
be  instructed  in  the  principles  of  religion,  where  no  child  is  to  be 
admitted  that  cannot  read  and  write  ;  the  second,  for  the  lower  boys, 
to  be  taught  by  the  second  master  or  usher ;  the  third,  for  the  upper 
forms,  under  the  headmaster.  .  .  .  The  fourth  or  last  apartment  is  a 
little  chapel  for  divine  service.  .  .  .  They  are  not  to  admit  all  boys,  of 
course,  but  to  choose  them  in  accordance  with  their  parts  and 
capacities.  The  wise  and  sagacious  founder  saw  that  the  greatest 
hopes  and  happiness  of  the  commonwealth  were  in  the  training  up 
of  children  to  good  letters  and  true  religion.” 

Apparently  Colet  would  have  liked  to  secure  Erasmus 
as  ‘hygh  Maister’  of  his  school,  and  such  an  appointment 
would  surely  have  met  his  requirement  of  “  a  man  hoole 
in  body,  honest  and  vertuouse  and  lernyd  in  the  good 
and  clene  laten  litterature  and  also  in  greke.”  But 
William  Lily  (1466-1529),  whom  Colet  had  previously 
met  at  Oxford  and  now  made  headmaster,  had  been 
well  trained  in  classics  at  Oxford,  Paris,  Rome,  and 
Greece,  and  must  have  filled  the  office  well.  John  Rit- 
wyse ,  whom  Erasmus  selected  for  the  school,  while  at 
Cambridge,  was  appointed  ‘  surmaister  ’  or  usher. 

As  we  might  expect  from  Colet’s  personality  and  edu¬ 
cation,  the  character  of  the  school  was  of  the  Northern 
humanistic  type,  and  combined  religious  training  with  a 
study  of  the  classics.  Its  prospective  patrons  were  in¬ 
formed  :  “  If  youre  chylde  can  rede  &  wryte  laten  and 
englyshe  suffycyently,  so  that  he  be  able  to  rede  and 
write  his  own  lessons,  then  he  shal  be  admytted  into 
the  scole  for  a  scholer.”  And  for  the  pupils  of  the  school 
Colet  prescribed  :  — 

“Iwolde  they  were  taught  all  way  in  goode  litterature  both  laten 
and  greke,  and  goode  auctours  suych  as  have  the  veray  Romayne 
eliquence  joyned  withe  wysdome,  specially  Cristyn  auctours  that  wrote 
theyre  wysdome  with  clene  and  chaste  laten  other  in  verse  or  in 
prose,  for  my  entent  is  by  thys  scole  specially  to  incresse  knowlege 
and  worshipping  of  god  and  oure  lorde  Criste  Jesu  and  good  Cristen 
lyff  and  maners  in  the  Children.  And  for  that  entent  I  will  the 
Chyldren  lerne  ffirst  aboue  all  the  Cathechyzon  in  englyshe,  and 
after,  the  accidence  that  I  made  or  some  other  yf  eny  be  better  to  the 
purpose  to  induce  children  more  spedely  to  laten  spech.  And 
thanne  Institutum  Christiani  homines  which  that  lernyd  Erasmus 


William  Lily 
became  the 
first  head¬ 
master. 


170  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

made  at  my  request  and  the  boke  called  Copia 1  of  the  same  Eras¬ 
mus.” 


Lily’s 

Grammar. 


The  English 
secondary 
schools, 
taking  St. 
Paul’s  as  a 
model,  were 
humanistic, 


The  textbook  on  ‘accidence’  to  which  Colet  refers  in 
the  foregoing  quotation  as  his  own  production,  was  sent 
with  large  additions  by  him  to  ‘  Maister  Lilye  *  for  cor¬ 
rections  and  improvements,  and,  after  further  revision 
by  Erasmus,  it  became  the  basis  of  the  celebrated  Lily's 
Grammar.  This  work  was  not  only  in  use  at  St.  Paul’s, 
but  in  various  editions  remained  the  standard  textbook 
in  England  for  three  centuries. 

Humanism  in  the  English  Grammar  Schools.  —  St. 
Paul’s  School  thus  played  an  important  part  in  shaping 
not  only  English  education,  but  the  humanistic  tendencies 
in  the  North.  It  trained  a  long  list  of  brilliant  scholars, 
literati,  clergy,  and  statesmen,  and  was  the  imme¬ 
diate  model  for  a  host  of  other  grammar  schools.  There 
were  in  existence  at  the  time  St.  Paul’s  was  founded 
some  three  hundred  secondary  schools  of  various  types, 
and  those  which  survived  the  general  dissolution  of 
ecclesiastical  foundations  by  Henry  VIII  and  Edward 
VI  were  remodeled  on  the  new  humanistic  basis.2 
These  schools  had  come  down  from  the  Middle  Ages 
and  had  been  established  throughout  the  country  in 
connection  with  the  cathedrals,  monasteries,  colleges, 
collegiate  churches,  and  gilds,  or  in  some  cases  upon  an 
independent  foundation.  Their  chief  purpose  had  been 
training  young  men  for  the  priesthood,  and  their  cur¬ 
riculum  was  usually  of  the  mediaeval  monastic  type. 
These  soon  felt  the  influence  of  the  Renaissance  and 
the  example  of  St.  Paul’s  School.  New  schools  were  also 
established  in  accordance  with  the  humanistic  ideals. 


1  I.e.  De  Copia  Verborum  et  Rerumy  a  work  on  Latin  composition 
which  Erasmus  had  dedicated  to  St.  Paul’s.  See  p.  150. 

2  Leach  ( English  Grammar  Schools  at  the  Reformation')  has  shown 
through  the  records  of  the  Chantries  Commission  that  it  is  a  moderate 
estimate  to  place  the  number  of  ‘  grammar  ’  schools  before  the  Reformation 
at  three  hundred.  Grammar  schools  were,  therefore,  an  old  institution  in 
England,  and  did  not  begin  with  the  Reformation,  so  that  Edward  VI  may, 
by  his  Chantries  Act  of  1548,  be  more  properly  considered  a  ‘spoiler  of 
schools  ’  than  a  founder. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  \Jl 


But  the  humanism  of  the  schools  in  England,  as  in 
Italy  and  Germany,  soon  degenerated  into  the  narrower 
and  more  formal  sort.  The  purpose  of  humanistic  edu¬ 
cation  became  not  so  much  a  real  training  in  literature 
as  a  practical  command  of  Latin  as  the  means  of  culture 
in  all  ages.  The  Roman  and  Greek  literatures  were 
treated  not  so  much  as  ends  in  themselves  as  store¬ 
houses  of  adequate  and  eloquent  expression  that  was 
needed  by  all.  The  legal,  medical,  and  clerical  profes¬ 
sions  all  required  a  ready  acquaintance  with  Latin,  and 
it  was  a  necessity  in  travel  and  international  communi¬ 
cation.  The  educators  of  the  times  did  not  belittle  the 
literary  aspect,  but  felt  that  such  an  understanding  of 
the  authors  would  be  limited  to  the  intellectual  genius, 
whereas  Latin  conversation,  and  an  adaptation  of  classi¬ 
cal  terms  and  phrases  to  the  communication  of  ideas, 
was  perfectly  feasible  for  all. 

Accordingly,  the  training  of  the  grammar  schools  in 
the  later  sixteenth  and  the  seventeenth  centuries  became 
one  of  dictionaries,  grammars,  and  phrase-books.  The 
study  of  grammar  and  rhetoric  completely  displaced  the 
mediaeval  dialectic,  and,  in  the  place  of  the  former  dis¬ 
putations,  the  pupils  were  exercised  in  writing  Latin 
themes,  verses,  and  orations  in  the  style  of  different 
classical  authors.  A  large  range  of  writers  was  em¬ 
ployed,  so  that  standards  for  variety  and  accuracy  might 
be  afforded  the  students.  Expressions  and  selections 
were  culled  from  the  authors,  especially  Cicero  and 
Terence,  and  treasured  in  note-books.  Books  of  Collo¬ 
quies ,  such  as  those  of  Erasmus,  Vives,  and  Corderius, 
were  also  used  to  give  a  training  in  Latin  conversa¬ 
tion  and  to  purge  away  all  tendencies  toward  mediaeval 
barbarisms.  The  methods  became,  therefore,  largely 
memoriter  and  passive,  although  some  exercise  of  judg¬ 
ment  and  taste  was  required  of  the  pupils  in  making  the 
proper  selections,  and  in  analyzing  paragraphs,  sen¬ 
tences,  phrases,  and  words. 

Brinsley’s  Description  of  Formalism  in  the  Grammar 
Schools.  —  The  formalism  into  which  the  grammar 


but  the 
humanism 
soon  became 
narrow  and 
formal, 


172 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


as  shown  in 
Brinsley’s 
Grammar 
Sc  ho  ole. 


Some  modi¬ 
fications 
have  been 
made,  but 
the  English 
grammar 
schools  in 
principle  re¬ 
main  the 
same  to-day. 


schools  of  England  had  thus  fallen  in  the  seventeenth 
century  is  depicted  in  a  work  by  John  Brinsley  (1587- 
1665)  called  Lucius  literarius :  or  the  Grammar  Schoole. 
This  book,  in  which  “  two  schoolmasters  discourse  con¬ 
cerning  their  functions,”  was  intended  to  accomplish  a 
reform  of  the  conditions.  It  indicates  that  when  Latin 
was  once  begun,  the  vernacular,  arithmetic,  and  other 
subjects  were  neglected,  and  the  time  was  entirely  de¬ 
voted  to  the  drill  of  inflecting,  parsing,  and  construing 
a  fixed  set  of  texts  and  authors.  The  standard  grammar 
of  Lily  was  memorized  by  the  pupils,  and  references 
to  it  glibly  repeated,  with  little  understanding  of  their 
meaning.  A  Latin  theme  had  to  be  ground  out  each 
week,  and  all  conversation  was  fashioned  upon  some 
phrase-book  like  the  Colloquies  of  Corderius.  The 
Greek  in  the  course  was  small  and  exceedingly  elemen¬ 
tary.  The  school  hours  were  long,  and  the  discipline, 
very  naturally,  was  severe  and  irrational. 

English  Grammar  and  Public  Schools  To-day.  —  While, 
of  course,  reforms  have  since  been  made  in  all  these 
directions,  the  organization  and  the  humanistic  character 
of  the  course  and  the  organization  of  the  English  gram¬ 
mar  school  have  been  preserved  in  principle  even  to  this 
day.  Considerable  enlargement  and  modification  of  the 
curriculum  have  been  effected  through  the  addition  of 
mathematics,  modern  languages,  and  sciences,  and  a 
*  modern  ’  course  has  been  established  by  the  side  of  the 
old  one,  but  the  classics  are  still  the  emphasized  feature, 
and,  to  a  large  degree,  the  drill  methods  prevail.  In 
the  earliest  grammar  schools  boys  were  admitted  at  seven 
or  eight,  and  passed  through  eight  classes,  whereas  the 
number  of  classes,  or  ‘forms,’  is  now  six,  and  the  pupil 
enters  at  twelve,  but  if  the  ‘  preparatory  school,’  which 
is  usually  an  integral  part  of  the  organization,  is  consid¬ 
ered,  the  pupils  enter  and  graduate  at  almost  the  same 
age  now  as  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

It  was,  however,  originally  intended  that  the  grammar 
schools  should  be  open  to  rich  and  poor  alike  and  that 
the  endowment  should  be  sufficient  to  obviate  the  need 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 73 


of  fees,  but,  because  of  the  great  increase  in  expenses, 
necessary  and  unnecessary,  there  is  little  possibility  now 
of  any  one  in  the  lower  classes  attending  a  grammar 
school.  Similarly,  a  distinction  has  come  to  be  drawn 
between  ‘grammar’  and  ‘public’  schools,  although  it  is 
not  a  very  clear  one.  As  a  rule,  a  ‘  public  ’  school  has 
a  more  aristocratic  patronage  and  greater  wealth,  but  it 
would  be  difficult  to  decide  just  what  schools  should  fall 
in  this  class.  Nine  great  public  schools  were  recognized 
by  the  royal  commission  headed  by  Lord  Clarendon  in 
1864,  —  Winchester  (founded  in  1387),  Eton  (1441), 
St.  Paul’s  (1509),  Shrewsbury  (1551),  Westminster 
(1560),  Rugby  (1567),  Harrow  (1571),  Merchant  Tay¬ 
lors’  (1575),  and  Charterhouse  (1609).  Other  old 
schools,  like  Christ’s  Hospital  (1553),  and  Dulwich 
(1619),  are  generally  admitted,  as  are  also  some  of  the 
stronger  foundations  of  Queen  Victoria’s  reign,  —  Chel¬ 
tenham  (1841),  Marlborough  (1843),  Rossall  (1844), 
Wellington  (1853),  Haileybury  (1862),  and  Clifton 
(1862).  The  Public  School  Year  Book  recognizes  more 
than  twenty  other  schools  that  may  be  ranked  as  ‘  pub¬ 
lic  ’  schools,  and  many  others  claim  this  dignity  that 
would  not  be  so  considered  outside  of  the  immediate 
locality. 

The  Grammar  Schools  of  America.  —  It  was  after  these 
‘grammar’  schools  of  the  mother  country  that  the  first 
secondary  schools  in  America  were  modeled  and  named. 
In  many  instances  the  fathers  of  the  American  colonies, 
such  as  Roger  Williams,  William  Penn,  John  Daven¬ 
port,  Theophilus  Eaton,  and  Edward  Hopkins,  had  been 
educated  in  the  grammar  schools  of  England,  and  natu¬ 
rally  sought  to  transplant  these  institutions  to  their  new 
home.  The  Boston  Latin1  School  was  founded  as  early 
as  1635,  and  other  towns  of  Massachusetts  —  Charles¬ 
town,  Ipswich,  Salem,  Dorchester,  Newbury,  Cambridge, 
and  Roxbury  —  followed  the  example  before  the  middle 

1  Of  course  ‘  grammar  ’  is  used  in  the  sense  of  ‘  Latin  grammar,’  and 
the  schools  were  known  either  as  ‘  grammar  ’  or  ‘  Latin  ’  schools.  They 
were  also  sometimes  called  *  free  ’  schools. 


The  great 
*  public  ’ 
schools. 


The  first 
secondary 
schools  of 
the  Ameri¬ 
can  colonies 
were  mod¬ 
eled  and 
named  after 
the  English 
grammar 
schools,  but 
the  hold  of 
humanism 
was  after¬ 
ward  more 
readily 
loosened. 


174 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  aim  of 
humanistic 
education  in 
the  North 
was  more 
social,  moral, 
and  religious, 
and  less  lit¬ 
erary  and 
aesthetic. 


of  the  century.  Similarly,  the  towns  of  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
counties  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  had  in  many  cases 
founded  grammar  schools  before  the  close  of  the  century. 
After  the  act  of  1647  by  the  General  Court  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  whereby  it  was  ordered  that  “  where  any  towne 
shall  increase  to  ye  number  of  100  families  or  house¬ 
holders,  they  shall  set  up  a  gramer  schoole,”  these 
borrowed  secondary  institutions  were  generally  made 
compulsory  in  the  various  communities  through  the 
colonial  legislatures.  The  American  grammar  schools, 
like  their  prototypes,  were  secondary  and  sustained  no 
real  relation  to  the  elementary  schools.  They  were  in¬ 
tended  to  prepare  pupils  for  college,  although  often  the 
college  had  not  yet  been  established,  and,  like  the 
colleges,  their  ideal  was  “  the  service  of  God  in  church 
and  commonwealth,”  the  chief  form  of  which  was  the 
Christian  ministry.  Hence  their  course,  which  covered 
only  seven  years,  consisted  chiefly  in  reading  the  classics 
and  the  New  Testament,  and  used  among  its  texts  the 
Grammar  of  Lily  and  the  Colloquies  of  Corderius.  The 
course,  like  that  of  the  English  grammar  schools,  was, 
however,  not  as  barren  as  it  appeared,  since  ethics,  his¬ 
tory,  and  other  subjects  were  studied  through  the  medium 
of  the  classic  authors.  Moreover,  educational  traditions 
were,  of  course,  more  flexible  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  hold  of  the  narrower  humanism  upon  secondary  edu¬ 
cation  was  more  readily  loosened  during  the  subsequent 
stages  of  the  ‘academy’  and  the  ‘high  school.’  Never¬ 
theless,  even  in  America  formal  classical  training  re¬ 
mained  confused  with  liberal  education,  and,  with  little 
modification,  lasted  well  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Aim  of  Humanistic  Education  in  the  North.  — 
After  this  extended  survey  of  the  Renaissance  and  hu¬ 
manistic  education  in  the  various  European  countries 
north  of  Italy,  it  can  easily  be  seen  that  these  move¬ 
ments  took  on  rather  a  different  color  here  from  what 
they  did  in  the  peninsula  that  gave  them  birth.  While 
the  humanism  of  the  North  was  narrower  in  not  con- 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 75 


cerning  itself  so  much  with  self-culture,  personal  de¬ 
velopment,  and  the  opportunities  of  life  in  all  directions, 
it  had  a  wider  vision  through  interesting  itself  in  society 
as  a  whole  and  in  endeavoring  to  advance  morality  and 
religion  everywhere.  It  took  less  account  of  the  literary 
and  aesthetic  aspects  of  education,  but  it  sought  to  re¬ 
move  the  abuses  of  Church  and  State  by  abolishing 
ignorance  and  superstition.  If  not  as  broad,  it  was  at 
least  deeper  than  the  self-centered  movement  of  the 
South.  It  was  democratic  and  social  in  its  trend,  where 
the  Italian  Renaissance  was  more  aristocratic  and  indi¬ 
vidual. 

In  consequence,  most  of  the  humanists  of  the  North 
were  also  religious  or  social  reformers,  and  in  Germany, 
France,  and  England  humanism  passed  over  into  the 
Reformation.  Erasmus  differed  from  Luther  only  in 
believing  that  education  would  eventually  effect  the 
desired  changes.  So  Melanchthon  is  ranked  as  a 
reformer,  but  he  was  fully  as  much  a  humanist,  while 
the  great  humanistic  educator,  Sturm,  was  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  the  Reformation.  Lefevre  and  others 
gave  the  first  impulse  to  French  Protestantism  through 
their  translation  of  the  Bible.  Colet  endeavored  to 
dethrone  dogma  and  tradition  through  a  better  inter¬ 
pretation  of  St.  Paul. 

The  Northern  Educational  Organization.  —  Hence  the 
educational  institutions  of  the  North,  such  as  the  uni¬ 
versities,  colleges,  Hieronymian  schools,  Furstenschulen, 
Gymnasien ,  and  grammar  schools,  became  the  seats 
of  moral  development.  Until  the  time  of  the  Jesuit  in¬ 
stitutions,  the  typical  humanistic  schools  were  usually 
supported  by  the  Reformation  cities  and  were  under 
Reformation  leaders,  and  the  chief  educational  influence 
of  the  Reformation,  as  will  be  seen,  appeared  in  the 
foundation  of  humanistic  schools  and  universities  under 
the  cities  and  states.  Thus  the  two  movements  were 
generally  fused  in  the  institutions  of  education. 

The  Course  of  Study.  —  As  in  Italy,  the  curriculum  of 
these  humanistic  foundations  consisted  mostly  in  the 


The  educa¬ 
tional  institu¬ 
tions  of  the 
North 
fused  the 
Renaissance 
and  the 
Reformation. 


176 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  renewal 
of  Greek  was 
used  to  fur¬ 
nish  a  key  to 
the  New 
Testament. 


By  the  open¬ 
ing  of  the 
seventeenth 
century 
Northern 
humanism 
had  become 
formal  and 
memoriter. 


mastery  of  Latin  and  Greek,  but  the  renewal  of  Greek 
meant  a  key  to  the  New  Testament  and  the  abolition  of 
irrational  tradition  rather  than  the  revelation  of  a  new 
joy  in  living.  The  Italian  Renaissance  re-created  the 
liberal  education  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  Cicero  and 
Quintilian,  but  the  movement  in  its  Northern  spread 
found  in  the  classics  a  means  of  religious  reform,  and 
later,  a  new  interpretation  of  theology. 

The  Formalization  of  Humanistic  Education.  —  With 
the  rise  of  the  Reformation,  however,  the  humanistic 
movement  in  the  North  seems  to  have  completed  its 
mission.  By  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
spirit  of  criticism,  investigation,  and  intellectual  activity 
had  begun  to  abate,  and  by  the  opening  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century,  humanistic  education  in  the  North,  as 
in  Italy,  had  become  almost  as  formal  as  education  in 
mediaeval  times,  except  that  literary  and  linguistic  sub¬ 
jects  had  replaced  dialectic  and  theology.  In  the  study 
of  the  classics,  all  emphasis  was  placed  upon  grammar, 
linguistics,  and  style.  Form  was  preferred  to  content, 
and  methods  became  memoriter  and  imitative,  with  the 
inevitable  accompaniment  of  brutal  discipline.  Thus  in 
Italy  and  the  North,  the  attempts  of  the  Renaissance 
to  break  up  uniformity  of  life  and  thought,  to  overthrow 
authority  and  repression  in  Church  and  State,  and  to 
allow  some  latitude  of  expression  to  the  individual,  had 
hardened  into  a  new  type  of  formalism,  and  a  new 
awakening  was  needed  to  revivify  education  and  society 
in  general. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Allen,  P.  S.  The  Letters  of  Rudolph  Agricola. 

Ascham,  R.  The  Scholemaster  (Arbor  Reprint). 

Brinsley,  J.  Ludus  Liter arius :  or  the  Grammar  Schoole. 

Bude,  G.  De  V Institution  du  Prince. 

Chaloner,  T.  (Editor).  Moriae  Laudatio  of  Erasmus. 

Elyot,  T.  The  Poke  named  the  Governour . 

Freundgen,  J.  (Editor).  Wimphelings  Pddagogischer  Schriften. 


THE  HUMANISTIC  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NORTH  1 77 


Hoole,  C.  (Editor).  The  School  Colloquies  of  Cor derius. 
Melanchthon,  P.  De  Corrigendis  Studiis. 

Monroe,  P.  Thomas  Platter  (contains  Platter’s  Autobiography'). 
Nichols,  F.  M.  The  Epistles  of  Eras mus. 

Norton,  A.  O.  Readings  in  the  History  of  Education.  Chapters 
on  the  Renaissance. 

Pater,  W.  The  Praise  of  Folly ,  Colloquies ,  and  Educational 
Writings  of  Erasmus. 

Scott,  I.  A  Translation  of  Erasmus ’  Ciceronianus  (with  Intro¬ 
duction  by  P.  Monroe). 

Sturm,  J.  De  Liter  arum  Ludis  Recte  Aperiendis  Liber. 
Taverner,  R.  Proverbes  or  Adagies  of  Erasmus. 

V ives,  J .  L.  De  Disciplinis  Libri  XX. 

Whitcomb,  M.  Select  Colloquies  of  Erasmus. 

Whitcomb,  M.  Source  Book  of  the  German  Renaissance. 
Woodward,  W.  H.  Erasmus  concerning  Education  (contains  the 
treatises,  De  Ratione  and  De  Pueris). 

II.  Authorities 

Acton,  Lord.  The  Cambridge  Modern  History.  Vol.  I,  Chaps. 

XIII,  XVI,  and  XVII,  and  Vol.  II,  Chap.  XIX. 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chap.  XV. 
Barnard,  H.  English  Pedagogy .  First  Series,  pp.  21-76,  and 
Second  Series,  pp.  1-176,  and  401-405. 

Barnard,  H.  Ger?nan  Teachers  and  Educators.  II-V. 

Barnard,  H.  The  American  Journal  of  Education.  Vol.  IV,  No. 

X,  §§  VIII  and  IX  ;  No.  XI,  §  VII ;  and  No.  XII,  §  XI. 
Brodrick,  G.  C.  A  History  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  Chap. 
VII. 

Brown,  E.  E.  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools.  Chaps.  1 1- VI I. 
Drummond,  R.  B.  Erasmus,  his  Life  and  Character. 

Eggleston,  E.  The  Transit  of  Civilization  from  England  to 
America  in  the  Seventeenth  Century. 

Einstein,  L.  The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England.  Chap.  I. 

E merton,  E.  Desiderius  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam. 

Froude,  J.  A.  Life  and  Letters  of  Erasmus. 

Jebb,  R.  Erasmus. 

Johnson,  J.  N.  The  Life  of  Thomas  Linacre. 

Knight,  S.  The  Life  of  Dr .  John  Colet. 

Kuckelhahn,  L.  Johannes  Sturm ,  Strassburgs  Erster  Schulrector. 
Laurie,  S.  S.  Educational  Opinion  from  the  Renaissance.  Chaps. 
III-V  and  VII. 

Leach,  A.  F.  English  Schools  at  the  Reformation. 

Lupton,  J.  H.  Life  of  John  Colet ,  D.D. 

Lyte,  H.  C.  M.  History  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  Chaps.  XII- 
XVI. 

Monroe,  P.  Thomas  Platter.  Pp.  39-75. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  The  University  of  Cambridge.  Chap.  IV. 
n 


178  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

Nohle,  F.  History  of  the  German  School  System.  (Report  of 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1897-98,  Vol.  I,  pp.  26-44.) 
Paulsen,  F.  The  German  Universities  (translated  by  Thilly 
and  Elwang).  Chap.  II,  §  I. 

Putnam,  G.  H.  Books  and  their  Makers.  Vol.  I,  pp.  317-347. 
Quick,  R.  H.  Educational  Reformers.  Chaps.  Ill  and  VII. 
Richard,  J.  W.  Philip  Melanchthon.  Pp.  125-141. 

Russell,  J.  E.  Ger?nan  Higher  Schools.  Chaps.  II-IV. 

S andys,  J.  E.  Harvard  Lectures  on  the  Revival  of  Learning. 
Sandys.  J.  E.  History  of  Classical  Scholarship.  Vol.  II,  Chaps. 
VIII  and  X. 

Seebohm,  F.  The  Oxford  Reformers ,  John  Colet ,  Erasmus ,  and 
Thofnas  More. 

Staunton,  H.  The  Great  Schools  of  England. 

Watson,  F.  Maturinus  Corderius.  ( The  School  Review ,  Vol. 
XII,  Nos.  4,  7,  and  9.) 

Watson,  F.  Notices  of  Some  Early  English  Writers  on  Education. 
(Report  of  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1902,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  481-509.) 

Watson,  F.  The  English  Grammar  Schools  to  1660. 

Woodward,  W.  H.  Erasmus  concerning  Education. 

Woodward,  W.  H.  Edtication  during  the  Renaissance.  Chaps. 
V-VIII,  X-XI,  and  XIII. 


» 


CHAPTER  XV 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS 

General  Causes  of  the  Reformation.  —  The  revolt  of 
the  Protestants  from  the  Catholic  Church,  a  movement 
generally  known  as  the  ‘  Reformation,’ 1  may  be  regarded 
largely  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  Renaissance.  It  began 
to  appear  as  the  humanism  of  the  North  reached  its 
height  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
opposition  to  repressive  authority  that  was  characteristic 
of  the  age  was  felt  in  the  case  of  ecclesiastical,  as  of 
cultural,  educational,  and  social  matters,  but  the  Church 
stubbornly  resisted  the  efforts  toward  reformation  and 
emancipation  in  doctrine  and  ritual.  The  transforma¬ 
tion  was,  therefore,  not  effected  gradually  and  quietly, 
but  came  to  pass  through  force.  The  immense  wealth, 
large  numbers,  and  trained  intellects  of  the  supporters 
of  the  ecclesiastical  institutions  made  it  possible  for  a 
long  time  to  thwart  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  result 
was  revolution  rather  than  evolution. 

For  several  centuries  there  had  been  those  within  the 
Church  who  had  earnestly  striven  to  purify  it  of  various 
abuses,  and  when  peaceful  measures  had  failed,  serious 
rebellions  had,  upon  some  occasions,  ensued.  In  the 
thirteenth  century  there  occurred  the  uprisings  of  the 
Albigenses  and  Waldenses,  which  were  in  the  one  case 
crushed  by  the  tortures  of  the  Inquisition,  and  in  the 
other  kept  in  isolation  until  the  Waldenses  had  merged 
with  the  later  reformers.2 

1  This  description  is  somewhat  unfair.  The  endeavor  to  purify  the 
Church  existed  before  the  time  of  any  separation,  and  such  men  as  Wimp- 
feling,  Erasmus,  and  Montaigne  were  as  true  reformers  as  Luther,  Zwingli, 
and  Calvin,  although  bitterly  opposed  to  any  division  in  Catholic  Chris¬ 
tianity. 

2  These  early  heretics  of  southern  France  differed  somewhat  in  position. 
The  Waldenses,  or  followers  of  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons,  imitated  the  simple 
life  of  Christ  and  the  early  Christians,  but  refused  to  accept  the  doctrines 

179 


There  had 
been  previ¬ 
ous  attempts 
to  revolt 
from  the 
Church,  as 
in  the  case 
of  the  Albi¬ 
genses  and 
Waldenses, 


of  Wyclif 
and  Huss, 
and  of  the 
Councils  of 
Pisa  and 
Constance, 


but  nothing 

permanent 

resulted. 


Owing,  how¬ 
ever,  to  the 
humanistic 
revival  of 
the  North 
and  other 
conditions, 
there  arose  in 


l80  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

A  century  and  a  half  afterward,  reaction  to  the  extrav¬ 
agance,  corruption,  and  nepotism  of  the  papal  court, 
especially  while  at  Avignon  (1305-1377),  had  brought 
sympathy  and  substance  to  the  revolt  of  John  Wyclif 
(1320-1384).  But  while  this  leader  had  been  protected 
from  the  wrath  of  the  Church  by  a  division  of  political 
parties  in  England,  and  died  peaceably,  great  efforts  had 
been  made  to  exterminate  his  followers,  the  ‘  Lollards.’ 
However,  through  the  marriage  of  Richard  II  to  Anne 
of  Bohemia,  the  Bohemian  students  had  become  gener¬ 
ally  acquainted  with  the  works  of  Wyclif,  and  the  reform 
movement  had  been  spread  throughout  that  country  by 
Johann  Huss  (i369-i4i5)and  others.  While  Huss  had 
been  burned  as  a  heretic,  and  his  followers  held  in  check 
by  persecution,  the  Hussite  feeling  had  never  altogether 
died  out.  Similarly,  the  Councils  of  Pisa  (1409)  and  Con¬ 
stance  (1414),  which  were  held  to  decide  who  really  was 
pope  and  to  bring  about  a  general  reformation  ‘  in  head 
and  members,’  were,  while  peaceful,  an  organized  oppo¬ 
sition  to  supreme  authority  and  traditional  abuses. 

None  of  these  attempts  achieved  anything  permanent, 
but  during  the  sixteenth  century,  as  the  result  of  the 
social  and  intellectual  conditions  of  the  times,  there  arose 
a  series  of  revolts  against  the  papal  authority  that  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  church  or  set  of  churches 
outside  of  Catholic  Christianity.  While  each  revolt  had 
some  peculiarities  of  its  own,  there  were  underlying  them 
all  certain  general  causes  that  indicated  their  connection 
with  the  Renaissance.  ✓  It  has  been  seen  in  the  foregoing 
chapter  how  the  humanistic  revival,  with  its  tendencies 
toward  individualism,  had,  in  the  more  pious  countries  of 
the  North,  taken  on  a  moral  and  religious  aspect,  and 
had  resulted  in  efforts  to  secure  a  more  accurate  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  Scriptures,  without  regard  to  the  traditions 


and  practices  of  the  Church,  and  would  not  obey  the  sinful  clergy.  The 
Albigenses,  on  the  other  hand,  completely  rejected  Christianity,  and  held 
that  the  Old  Testament  Jehovah,  whom  the  Church  worshiped,  was  the 
evil  power  of  the  universe.  These  latter  were  named  from  Albi,  a  town 
in  the  south  of  France,  where  their  influence  was  centered.  See  p.  72. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  l8l 


and  dogmas  of  the  Church.  At  the  same  time  that  eccle¬ 
siastical  pomp  and  ceremony  had  come  to  such  a  height, 
there  was  present  in  the  sixteenth  century  an  evident 
tendency  to  consider  theology  unnecessarily  complicated 
and  to  react  toward  a  simpler  faith.  Many  were  seeking 
to  read  the  Bible  for  themselves  and  to  stress  repentance 
rather  than  the  outward  forms  of  religion.  This  had  led 
to  a  freedom  of  discussion  and  a  criticism  of  the  conduct 
of  monks,  priests,  and  theologians,  and  of  other  abuses 
in  the  Church.  Moreover,  outside  of  Italy,  the  national 
sentiment  that  had  arisen  produced  a  feeling  against  the 
secular  powers  exercised  in  each  country  by  the  pope. 

Causes  of  Luther’s  Revolt.  —  Such  were  the  senti¬ 
ments  and  conditions  of  the  times  that  will  explain  the 
success  of  the  reformers  in  general.  Their  main  sup¬ 
port  grew  out  of  the  spirit  of  the  day.  But  to  under¬ 
stand  the  Reformation  and  its  effect  upon  education,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  study  briefly  the  situation  and  the 
character  of  the  leader  in  each  revolt.  The  acts  of 
Martin  Luther (1483-1546),  the  earliest  and  most  promi¬ 
nent  reformer,  first  engage  our  attention.  Luther’s 
attitude  did  not  grow  primarily  out  of  the  Renaissance, 
but  was  rather  the  result  of  his  spiritual  struggles. 
Anxiety  for  his  soul’s  welfare  drove  him  at  twenty-two 
to  enter  an  Augustinian  monastery  near  the  humanistic 
University  of  Erfurt,  where  he  had  been  studying. 
Here,  despite  all  fasting,  vigils,  and  penance,  he  found 
himself  harassed  by  doubts  concerning  his  salvation, 
until  at  last  he  decided  to  rely  upon  the  Divine  mercy 
toward  those  who  truly  repent  rather  than  upon  mere 
outward  ‘  good  works.’ 1  But  there  was  an  intellectual, 
as  well  as  a  moral,  side  to  Luther’s  nature,  so  that  he 
was  not  satisfied  until,  on  the  basis  of  Augustine’s  writ¬ 
ings,  he  worked  out  his  ‘  justification  by  faith  ’  into  a 
logical  and  systematic  theory.  This  doctrine  he  de¬ 
fended  and  taught  tenaciously,  especially  after  he  was 

1  To  the  extent  that  the  Protestant  Reformation  made  an  immediate 
knowledge  of  God  possible  for  each  individual  soul,  the  movement  may 
be  regarded  as  an  outgrowth  of  mysticism.  See  p.  47. 


the  sixteenth 
century  a 
series  of  re¬ 
volts  that 
established 
churches 
outside  of 
Catholic 
Christianity. 


Luther,  har¬ 
assed  by 
spiritual 
struggles, 
formulated 
his  ‘justifica¬ 
tion  by  faith.' 


182 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


He  chal¬ 
lenged  Tet- 
zel  to  a  de¬ 
bate  on  the 
value  of  ‘  in¬ 
dulgences.’ 


After  his 
contest  with 
Eck,  realiz¬ 
ing  that  he 
was  in  con¬ 
flict  with  the 
Church, 
and  feeling 
the  human¬ 
istic  and 
individual¬ 
istic  tend¬ 
encies  of  the 
times,  he 
attacked  the 


transferred  to  a  theological  professorship  at  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Wittenberg.  He  attacked  Aristotle  and  the 
schoolmen  with  great  vigor,  appealing  to  primitive 
Christianity  and  the  right  of  free  thought,  and  in  this 
way  his  movement  becomes  identified  in  spirit  with  the 
Renaissance. 

In  1517,  when  a  Dominican  friar  named  Tetzel  came 
to  Wittenberg  to  sell  ‘  indulgences  ’  and  made  claims 
that  seemed  to  emphasize  outward  forms  and  contravene 
‘justification  by  faith,’ 1  Luther  felt  logically  bound  to 
challenge  him  to  a  debate,  and  nailed  ninety-five  theses 
concerning  the  value  of  indulgences  to  the  church  door 
at  Wittenberg.  This  was  a  common  university  custom, 
and  apparently  he  had  no  idea  of  breaking  from  the 
Church.  He  hardly  supposed  that  his  disputation,  which 
was  written  in  Latin  and  was  in  scholastic  form,  would 
be  read  by  any  save  scholars.2  Yet  within  a  fortnight 
all  Germany,  and  at  the  end  of  a  month  all  Christen¬ 
dom,  were  acquainted  with  his  declarations  and  probably 
recognized  their  significance  more  clearly  than  he. 

However,  after  his  contest  with  Dr.  Eck,  two  years 
later,  in  which  he  was  led  to  deny  the  authority  of  both 
pope  and  council  to  determine  the  belief  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual,  Luther  must  have  realized  that  he  was  in  open 
conflict  with  the  whole  organization  of  the  Church. 
But  being  of  an  obstinate  temperament,  and  feeling  that 
he  was  supported  by  the  humanistic  and  individualistic 
tendencies  of  the  times,  he  gradually  grew  more  overt, 
and  attacked  the  church  doctrines  and  the  papacy  in 
popular  pamphlets.  In  1520  he  was  excommunicated 
by  the  pope,  but  burnt  the  ‘bull,’  and  the  following 


1  It  is  a  popular  belief  among  Protestants  that  an  ‘  indulgence  ’  is  a  for¬ 
giveness  of  sin  before  its  commission,  or  even  a  license  to  commit  it,  but 
this  has  no  foundation,  and  did  not  constitute  Luther’s  objection  to  the 
doctrine.  He  felt  that  it  stressed  penance  rather  than  penitence,  and  was, 
therefore,  superfluous.  For  Tetzel’s  Sermoji  on  Indulgences ,  see  Robinson 
and  Whitcomb,  Early  Reformation  in  Germany ,  pp.  9-1 1. 

>l  A  translation  of  these  theses  will  be  found  in  any  good  source  book 
covering  the  Reformation.  See  Robinson’s  Readings ,  Vol.  II,  pp.  58-62, 
or  Robinson  and  Whitcomb,  Early  Reformation  in  Germany}  pp.  11-19. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  183 


year  he  was  summoned  by  the  emperor,  Charles  V,  to 
appear  before  the  Diet  at  Worms  and  answer  for  his 
heresies.  At  the  trial  he  was  simply  asked  whether 
certain  writings  were  his,  and  was  not  allowed  to  defend 
his  conclusions,  and  when  he  refused  to  retract  unless 
he  were  refuted  by  the  Scriptures,  the  diet  declared  him 
an  outlaw. 

Educational  Features  of  Luther’s  Religious  Works.  — 

Since  the  thirteenth  century  it  had  been  well  under¬ 
stood  that  both  the  emperor  and  the  decrees  of  the 
imperial  diet  had  but  little  power,  but  since  no  one 
knew  just  how  effective  an  edict  like  that  of  Worms 
might  prove,1  Luther  was  spirited  away  by  his  friends 
to  a  castle  called  ‘  the  Wartburg.’  The  nine  months 
spent  in  hiding  gave  him  an  opportunity,  long  desired, 
to  awaken  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  common  people 
by  a  translation  of  the  Greek  Testament  into  colloquial 
language.  A  dozen  years  later,  in  1534,  he  had  com¬ 
pleted  a  translation  of  the  entire  Bible,  and  afterward 
revised  it  twice.  There  had  been  many  vernacular 
translations  before,  but  this  was  the  first  in  modern 
High  German,  and  it  fixed  a  definite  standard  for  the 
language.  Its  educational  effect  in  getting  the  masses 
to  read  and  reflect  must  have  been  very  great.  For  the 
further  instruction  of  the  people,  whom  he  found  ex¬ 
ceedingly  ignorant,  he  produced,  in  1529,  two  catechisms, 
one  for  adults  and  the  other  for  children.  And  every¬ 
where  through  the  volumes  of  addresses,  sermons,  and 
letters  that  he  has  left  are  found  allusions  to  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  education  and  sound  pedagogical  advice. 

Luther’s  Chief  Educational  Works.  —  Many  of  the 
efforts  of  Luther  in  behalf  of  education,  then,  were  evi¬ 
dently  incidental  to  his  religious  and  theological  devel¬ 
opment.  But  he  also  made  very  early  more  direct 

1  The  Diet  of  Worms  was  followed  by  a  series  of  diets  that  attempted 
to  enforce  its  findings.  Little,  however,  could  be  done  until  the  emperor 
returned  from  his  foreign  wars.  Even  then  he  was  obliged,  because  of 
the  interference  of  France  and  dissensions  within  his  own  ranks,  to  con¬ 
sent,  in  1555,  to  the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  whereby  each  German  state  was 
allowed  to  choose  between  the  Lutheran  and  Catholic  confessions. 


papacy,  and 
was  con¬ 
demned  at 
the  Diet  of 
Worms. 


While  in 
hiding  at  the 
Wartburg, 
Luther  trans¬ 
lated  the 
New  Testa¬ 
ment,  and 
later  the 
entire  Bible, 
to  get  it  be¬ 
fore  the 
masses.  He 
also  wrote 
two  cate¬ 
chisms  for 
the  instruc¬ 
tion  of  the 
people. 


To  improve 
education, 
he  issued  his 
Letter  to 
Alayors  and 
Aldermen 
and  wrote 
his  famous 
Sermon. 


1 84 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


He  held  that 
education 
should  pre¬ 
pare  for 
citizenship, 


efforts  to  better  the  education  of  the  times,  which  he 
could  easily  see  was  sadly  deficient  in  organization,  cur¬ 
riculum,  methods,  and  discipline.  Owing  to  the  excesses 
of  some  of  the  other  reformers  and  his  various  allies, 
and  his  own  opposition  to  their  acts,1  he  was  obliged  to 
depend  more  and  more  upon  the  secular  powers  and 
the  civil  government  for  assistance,  and  in  1524  he 
issued  his  Letter  to  the  Mayors  and  Aldermen  of  All 
Cities  of  Germany  in  behalf  of  Christian  Schools.  This 
was  followed  half  a  dozen  years  later  by  his  longest 
educational  writing,  the  Sermon  on  the  Duty  of  Sending 
Children  to  School.  The  school  systems  had  been  so 
closely  connected  with  the  Church  that  it  seemed  during 
the  first  few  years  of  the  German  revolt  as  if  all  higher 
training  would  be  destroyed,  especially  as  some  of  the 
extremists  among  the  reformers  held  that  education  was 
unnecessary  for  right  faith.1  But  Luther  insisted  upon 
secondary,  as  well  as  elementary,  training,  and  believed 
that  this  was  not  possible  without  the  languages.  Hence 
he  adopted  the  humanistic  education,  and  we  find  him 
working  on  school  problems  side  by  side  with  Melanch- 
thon,  the  great  representative  of  that  tendency. 

The  Civic  Aim  of  Education.  —  The  purpose  of  educa¬ 
tion  Luther  everywhere  holds  to  involve  the  promotion 
of  the  State’s  welfare  quite  as  much  as  that  of  the 
Church.  The  schools  were  to  make  good  citizens  as 
well  as  religious  men.  In  his  Letter  he  claims  :  — 


“The  highest  welfare,  safety,  and  power  of  a  city  consist  in  able, 
learned,  wise,  upright,  and  cultivated  citizens,  who  can  secure,  pre- 

1  Luther  was,  of  course,  a  revolutionary,  and  there  was  a  tendency  for 
all  other  discontented  elements  in  the  state,  stirred  by  his  success,  to  hasten 
to  his  standard,  regardless  of  the  nature  of  their  own  grievances.  Such  were 
Carlstadt ,  who  believed  in  breaking  up  all  the  monasteries,  and  abandon¬ 
ing  scholarship;  the  mystic  Anabaptists ,  who  taught  that  learning  was  as 
naught,  and  only  through  direct  communication  with  God  could  anything 
be  accomplished;  the  knights ,  like  von  Sickingen  and  von  Hutten,  who 
were  jealous  of  the  princes  and  prelates;  and  the  peasants,  who  were  im¬ 
pelled  by  oppression  to  indulge  in  anarchistic  orgies.  Luther  was  in  great 
danger  of  being  identified  with  anarchv  and  violence  in  general,  and  had 
to  repudiate  and  vehemently  oppose  these  allies,  and  depend  wholly  upon 
the  princes  for  support. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  1 85 


serve,  and  utilize  every  treasure  and  advantage.  .  .  .  Though  there 
were  no  soul,  nor  heaven,  nor  hell,  but  only  the  civil  government, 
would  not  this  require  good  schools  and  learned  men  more  than  do 
our  spiritual  interests  ?  .  .  .  For  the  establishment  of  the  best 
schools  everywhere,  both  for  boys  and  girls,  it  is  a  sufficient  consid¬ 
eration  that  society,  for  the  maintenance  of  civil  order  and  the  proper 
regulation  of  the  household,  needs  accomplished  and  well-trained 
men  and  women.” 

The  Organization  of  Education  by  the  State.  —  Educa¬ 
tional  institutions,  he  believes,  should,  on  that  account, 
be  maintained  at  public  expense  for  every  one  —  rich 
and  poor,  high  and  low,  boys  and  girls  alike.  Parents 
are,  however,  frequently  too  selfish,  ignorant,  or  busy  to 
look  out  for  the  schooling  of  their  children,  and  “  it 
will,  therefore,  be  the  duty  of  the  mayors  and  councils 
to  exercise  the  greatest  care  over  the  young.”  In  his 
Sermon  he  even  goes  so  far  as  to  maintain  :  — 

“  The  civil  authorities  are  under  obligation  to  compel  the  people 
to  send  their  children  to  school.  ...  If  the  government  can  com¬ 
pel  such  citizens  as  are  fit  for  military  service  to  bear  spear  and  rifle, 
to  mount  ramparts,  and  perform  other  martial  duties  in  time  of  war ; 
how  much  more  has  it  a  right  to  compel  the  people  to  send  their 
children  to  school !  ” 

This  is  the  first  hint  since  the  Roman  days  of  a  system 
of  education  supported  and  controlled  by  the  State,  which 
before  very  long  was  destined  to  become  general  in 
Germany  and  then  throughout  the  world.1 

Industrial  and  Academic  Training. — The  most  impor¬ 
tant  innovation  of  Luther,  however,  was  his  desire  to 
introduce  schools  in  which  the  common  people  could  be 
fitted  for  their  occupations  in  life.  He  likewise  wished 
to  correlate  the  school  more  closely  with  the  home. 
“  My  idea,”  he  says  on  this  matter,  “is  that  boys  should 
spend  an  hour  or  two  a  day  in  school,  and  the  rest  of 

1This  suggestion  becomes  an  actuality  in  the  organization  of  the  schools 
of  Saxony  in  1528  by  Luther’s  colleague,  Melanchthon,  at  the  request  of 
the  elector,  Johann.  See  pp.  157  and  187.  That  was,  of  course,  much 
more  thoroughly  a  state  system  than  the  subsidization  and  partial  control  of 
the  Roman  schools  by  the  emperor  and  was  the  forerunner  of  all  state 
management.  See  Graves,  History  of  Education  before  the  Middle  Ages , 
pp.  265-267. 


and  should 
be  state-sup¬ 
ported  and 
compulsory. 


He  advo¬ 
cated  educa¬ 
tion  for 
occupation, 
and  higher 
work  for  the 
brighter 
pupils. 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Bible, 
catechism, 
ancient  lan¬ 
guages, 
rhetoric,  dia¬ 
lectic,  his¬ 
tory,  science, 
music,  and 
gymnastics 
as  the  con¬ 
tent  of 
education. 


The  natural 
activity  of 
children  was 
recognized, 
and  concrete 
examples 
used ;  lan¬ 
guages  were 
taught  by 
speaking. 


1 86 

the  time  work  at  home,  learn  some  trade  and  do  what¬ 
ever  is  desired,  so  that  study  and  work  may  go  on  to¬ 
gether.”  But  he  does  not  limit  education  to  an  industrial 
training.  He  also  plans  a  more  academic  course  for 
“  the  brightest  pupils,  who  give  promise  of  becoming 
accomplished  teachers,  preachers,  and  workers.” 

Religious,  Humanistic,  and  Other  Content  of  Education. 

—  The  chief  study  in  the  school,  Luther  very  naturally 
holds,  should  be  the  Bible.  “Where  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
tures  are  not  the  rule,”  he  says,  “  I  should  advise  no  one 
to  send  his  child.”  And  again  he  declares:  “The  soul 
can  do  without  everything  except  the  Word  of  God.” 
Next  to  the  Scriptures  he  held  the  catechism  to  be 
necessary.1  But  the  great  reformer  was  also  a  humanist, 
and,  like  the  other  humanists  of  the  North,  recommends 
the  ancient  languages  —  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  —  for 
the  light  they  would  throw  upon  the  Scriptures  and  the 
patristic  writers.  He  likewise  approves  of  rhetoric  and 
dialectic,  which  were  very  valuable  subjects  in  those 
days  of  controversy,  and  he  makes  a  decided  advance 
in  advocating  history,  natural  science,  vocal  and  instru¬ 
mental  music,  and  gymnastic  exercises.  History  is 
advised,  not  only,  as  was  common  with  the  humanists, 
for  the  sake  of  illustrating  moral  truth,  but  also  for  the 
purpose  of  understanding  social  institutions.  The  study 
of  nature  had  a  bearing  upon  religion,  and  was  intended 
to  reveal  “the  wonders  of  Divine  goodness  and  the 
omnipotence  of  God.”  He  considered  gymnastics  of 
value  both  for  the  body  and  the  soul,  and  music  a  means 
of  “driving  away  all  care  and  melancholy  from  the 
heart.” 

Rationality  in  Method  and  Competency  in  Schoolmasters. 

—  The  methods  that  Luther  proposed  were  a  decided  ad¬ 
vance  upon  those  of  the  narrower  humanism.  They  were 
to  be  less  mechanical  and  memoriter ,  and  to  appeal  more 
to  interest  and  rationality.  He  would  utilize  the  natural 
activity  of  children  and  not  attempt  to  repress  them,  and 

1  Hence  the  translation  of  the  Bible  and  the  preparation  of  catechisms 
may  well  be  regarded  as  part  of  his  educational  work. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  187 


would  make  use  of  concrete  examples,  wherever  possible. 
Languages  he  would  teach  less  by  grammar  than  by 
practice,  since,  “  while  printed  words  are  dead,  spoken 
words  are  living ;  on  the  printed  page  they  are  not  so 
forcible  as  when  uttered  by  the  soul  of  man  through  the 
mouth.”  And  it  is  his  recognition  of  the  need  of  proper 
method  that  leads  him  to  comment  upon  the  importance 
of  the  teacher’s  function  as  follows  :  — 

“An  industrious,  pious  schoolmaster  or  teacher,  who  faithfully 
trains  and  educates  boys,  can  never  be  sufficiently  recompensed.  .  .  . 
Next  to  the  ministry,  it  is  the  most  useful, greatest,  and  best  calling; 
and  I  am  not  sure  which  of  the  two  is  to  be  preferred.  For  it  is  hard 
to  make  old  dogs  docile  and  old  rogues  pious,  yet  that  is  what  the 
ministry  works  at ;  but  young  trees,  though  some  may  break  in  pieces, 
are  more  easily  bent  and  trained.” 

The  Embodiment  of  Luther’s  Ideas  in  Schools  by  His 
Friends,  Melanchthon  and  Sturm.  —  The  organization, 
content,  and  method  advocated  by  Luther  in  his  Letter , 
Sermon,  and  other  writings,  were  worked  out  in  actual 
institutions  by  his  friends  and  associates,  especially 
Melanchthon.  The  year  after  the  Letter  was  published, 
the  Protestants  were  requested  by  the  Count  of  Mansfeld 
to  establish  in  Luther’s  native  town  of  Eisleben  an 
elementary  and  secondary  school,  which  should  put  his 
educational  theories  into  practice.  This  institution,  as 
has  been  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,1  was  established 
through  Philip  Mela?ichthon{i^.y<^-i^66),  and  became  a 
prototype  of  the  Gymnasien.  We  have  also  noted  how 
three  years  later,  in  1528,  Melanchthon  was  likewise 
engaged  by  Luther’s  protector,  Johann,  Elector  of 
Saxony,  to  reorganize  the  schools  of  that  state,  and  the 
plan  he  formulated  was,  after  modifications,  adopted  in 
many  other  places.  An  account  of  the  work  of  the 
humanist  and  reformer,  Johann  Sturm  (1507-1589)  at 
Strasburg,  which,  although  on  the  basis  of  the  decadent 
humanism,  influenced  all  Europe,  has  likewise  been 
given.2 

Bugenhagen.  —  Many  other  institutions  and  school 


Luther’s 
principles 
were  institu¬ 
tionalized  by 
Melanchthon 
and  Sturm, 


1  See  p.  157. 


2  See  pp.  158-161. 


1 88 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


by  Bugen- 
hagen  in  his 
orders  to  the 
cities  and 
states  of 
northern 
Germany, 


by  Trotzen- 
dorf’s  moni¬ 
torial  school 
in  Silesia, 


systems,  which  have  not  been  mentioned,  were  organized 
by  the  colleagues  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon.  A  noted 
humanist  named  Johann  Bugenhagen  (1485-1558)  was  in 
1520  attracted  by  Luther  to  Wittenberg,  and  three  years 
later  became  professor  of  theology  there.  He  had  pre¬ 
viously  taught  in  classical  institutions,  and  from  now  on 
he  was  engaged  in  reorganizing  the  churches  in  the 
cities  .  and  states  of  northern  Germany.  In  all  these 
places,  by  his  general  *  church  order  ’  to  each,  he  made 
ample  provision  for  schools.  Through  his  order  for 
Hamburg  in  15  20,  for  instance,  he  organized  a  single  Latin 
school  with  a  rector  and  seven  teachers,  together  with  a 
German  school  for  boys  and  one  for  girls  in  every  parish. 
The  curriculum  of  the  Latin  school,  which  taught  Latin, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  dialectic,  rhetoric,  mathematics,  cate¬ 
chism,  and  singing,  would  seem  to  have  been  taken 
directly  from  the  Lutheran  pattern.  Eight  years  after¬ 
ward  the  church  order  of  Brunswick  provided  two  classical 
schools,  two  vernacular  schools  for  the  boys,  and  four 
for  the  girls,  so  located  in  the  city  that  all  children  could 
conveniently  reach  a  school.  Within  half  a  dozen  years, 
similar  requirements  were  made  in  Liibeck,  Minden, 
Gottingen,  Soest,  Bremen,  Osnabriick,  and  other  cities, 
and  throughout  some  entire  states  of  Germany,  such  as 
Holstein  and  Bugenhagen’s  native  duchy  of  Pomerania ; 1 
and  in  1537  the  system  of  Hamburg  was  introduced  into 
Denmark. 

Trotzendorf.  —  Another  collaborator  of  Luther’s,  Val¬ 
entin  Trotzendorf 2  (1490-1556),  made  some  very  striking 
improvements  in  his  school  at  Goldberg,  Silesia.  He 
reorganized  this  school  in  1531  on  the  basis  of  the  ideas 
of  his  teacher,  Melanchthon,  and  during  the  quarter  of 
a  century  that  he  was  rector,  it  became  very  famous  as 
a  humanistic  and  religious  institution.  The  aim  and 
course  of  study  were  practically  those  of  the  reformers,  but, 


1  From  this  duchy,  Bugenhagen  is  sometimes  called  Pomeranus  or  Dr. 
Pommer. 

2  His  real  name  was  Friedland \  but  he  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Trotzendorf. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  189 


in  addition,  he  instituted  a  system  of  student  government, 
after  the  plan  of  a  Roman  republic,  which  elected  its  own  offi¬ 
cers.  As  an  outgrowth  of  this  organization,  he  resorted 
to  a  species  of  monitorial  method  in  teaching.  The  stu¬ 
dents  in  the  higher  classes  instructed  the  younger  pupils, 
and  were  thus  given  a  training  to  become  regular  teachers. 

Neander.  —  Michael  Neander^  (1525-1595),  another  and  by 
pupil  of  Melanchthon,  likewise  conducted  a  successful  ^roaddhu-S 
Latin  school  after  the  plan  of  the  reformers.  He  had  manistic 
already  obtained  some  experience  in  a  Latin  school,  at 
when,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Melanchthon,  he 
was  at  twenty-five  made  rector  of  the  cloistral  school  at 
Ilf  eld  in  the  Harz.  Neander  found  his  life  work  in 
building  up  this  institution.  He  formulated  a  course  of 
study  running  from  the  sixth  to  the  eighteenth  year 
of  the  pupil,  and  by  the  nature  of  this  curriculum,  he 
showed  himself  more  liberal  and  daring  than  any  other 
Northern  schoolmaster.  He  even  ventured,  at  the  height 
of  humanism,  to  question  why  Greek  and  Latin  should 
be  taught  at  all,  and  showed  his  true  humanistic  spirit  by 
adding  history,  geography,  science,  and  music  to  the 
course,  and  by  reforming  the  methods  of  teaching  gram¬ 
mar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectic.  He  was  forced  to  make 
texts  for  his  own  needs,  and  although  he  never  had  any 
assistant,  he  found  time  to  publish  thirty -nine  books  and 
prepare  the  manuscripts  for  some  fourteen  more.  This 
school  was  considered  by  Melanchthon  the  best  in  the 
country,  and  its  pupils  from  the  beginning  occupied 
most  important  positions  in  Church  and  State.  Those 
who  entered  the  university  took  precedence  of  all  who 
were  prepared  elsewhere. 

Causes  of  Zwingli’s  Revolt. — About  the  same  time 
that  Luther’s  breach  with  the  Church  was  coming  to  a 
crisis,  another  successful,  though  less  eventful,  revolt 
was  beginning  in  northern  and  central  Switzerland  under 
the  leadership  of  Ulrich 2  Zwingli  (1484-1531).  His 

1  Neander  is  the  Hellenized  form  of  Neumann ,  which  was  his  name 
originally. 

2  Perhaps  more  properly  written  Huldreich . 


190 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Zwingli 
found  little 
basis  in  the 
Bible  for  the 
traditional 
practices  of 
the  Church, 
and  gradu¬ 
ally  had 
them 
dropped 
from  the 
cathedral  at 
Zurich. 


He  extended 
educational 
facilities  in 
Switzerland 
and  wrote  a 
treatise  on 
the  Christian 
Education  of 
Youth. 


reforms  were  more  directly  the  result  of  Northern  hu¬ 
manism  than  of  any  such  serious  personal  and  spiritual 
struggles  as  those  of  Luther.  Zwingli  was  born  in  a 
wealthy  family,  and  had  been  able  to  obtain  the  most 
complete  education  that  the  times  afforded.  He  learned 
from  Erasmus  and  others  that  there  was  little  basis  in 
the  Bible  for  the  traditional  theology,  and  became  him¬ 
self  a  deep  student  of  essential  Christianity  as  depicted 
in  the  New  Testament.  He  read  the  accounts  carefully 
in  the  original  Greek,  even  committing  the  Epistles  of 
Paul  to  memory,  and  began  the  study  of  Hebrew  to  get 
at  the  meaning  of  the  Old  Testament.  After  about  a 
dozen  years  in  the  priesthood,  he  was  chosen  preacher 
for  the  Cathedral  at  Zurich,  and  in  1519  began  his  at¬ 
tack  upon  the  dogmas  and  abuses  of  the  Church.  He 
denounced  the  sale  of  indulgences,  and  had  a  friar  who 
was  selling  them  driven  out  of  Zurich.  As  many  of 
the  towns  of  Switzerland,  including  Zurich,  were,  by  an 
old  agreement,  allowed  to  administer  their  own  religious 
affairs,  Zwingli  was  able,  by  securing  the  support  of  the 
town,  to  bring  about  a  fairly  peaceful  revolution.  He 
gradually  dropped  one  tradition  or  form  of  the  Church 
after  another,  until,  within  five  years,  he  had  abolished 
even  the  celebration  of  the  mass.  In  the  matter  of  the 
eucharist  he  went  much  farther  than  Luther  and  held 
that  the  ordinance  was  simply  a  commemoration  of 
Christ’s  atoning  death.  Luther,  in  consequence,  refused 
Christian  fellowship  to  Zwingli,  but  since  many  adopted 
the  latter’s  position,  another  complication  was  intro¬ 
duced  among  the  reformers. 

Zwingli’s  Educational  Foundations  and  Treatise. — 
Zwingli  made  the  extension  of  educational  facilities  a 
part  of  his  reform.  He  founded  a  number  of  humanistic 
institutions,  and  introduced  elementary  schools  into 
Switzerland.  In  1523  he  published  in  Latin  his  Brief 
Treatise  on  the  Christian  Education  of  Youth ,  which  he 
translated  into  the  Swiss  dialect  the  following  year. 1 

1  The  Latin  title  was  Praeceptiones  pauculae ,  quo  pacto  ingenui  ado- 
lescentes  formandi  sunt ,  but  as  translated  in  the  Swiss  German  it  read 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  191 


In.  the  plan  outlined  by  this  work,  Zwingli  arranged 
a  systematic  course  on  the  Bible  so  that  the  material  of 
the  Gospels  and  Epistles  was  gradually  developed.  The 
classics  and  Hebrew  were  likewise  advocated  to  bring 
out  the  true  meaning  of  the  Word.  Similarly,  he  ad¬ 
vised  the  study  of  Nature,  as  revealing  the  handiwork 
of  the  Almighty,  and  inculcating  reverence  and  love. 
From  the  practical  turn  of  his  temperament,  which  he 
had  in  common  with  most  reformers,  he  was  led  to 
recommend  arithmetic,  surveying,  and  music,  and  to 
propose  almost  a  Greek  palaestral  course  in  running, 
jumping,  putting  the  shot,  and  even  wrestling. 

The  reforms  of  Zurich  soon  spread  to  the  other  towns, 
but  were  vigorously  resisted  with  arms  by  the  Catholic 
cantons,  and,  during  the  conflict  that  followed,  Zwingli 
was  slain  at  the  battle  of  Kappel  in  the  prime  of  life. 
His  position  was  maintained  by  his  successor  in  the 
cathedral,  but  his  work  was  overshadowed  and  merged 
during  the  second  generation  of  reformers  in  the  more 
aggressive  movement  of  Calvin. 

Causes  of  Calvin’s  Revolt. — Jean  Calvin1  (1509-1564) 
was  among  the  French  Protestants  who  were  forced  to 
flee  from  the  persecutions  of  the  king,  Francis  I,  in 
1535.  Protestantism  in  France  had  begun  through  the 
influence  of  Northern  humanism  and  the  study  of  the 
Greek  Testament.  As  a  result  of  the  keener  insight 
thus  obtained,  many  of  the  traditional  forms  were  re¬ 
jected,  and  a  doctrine  akin  to  the  ‘justification  by  faith  ’ 
was  preached  there  even  before  the  time  of  Luther. 
But  the  revolt  which  started  at  Wittenberg  must  also 
have  had  some  effect  upon  Calvin.  That  reformer  had 
received  an  excellent  legal  and  theological  education, 
and  had  naturally  a  logical  and  judicial  mind  of  great 
strength.  Consequently,  he  did  not  content  himself 

Leerbichlein  ( i.e.  Lehrbuchlein  )  wie  man  die  Knaben  christlich  unter - 
weysen  und  erziehen  soil.  See  Schmid,  Geschichte  der  Erziehung,  Vol.  X, 
pp.  695  ff. 

1  Calvin  is  abbreviated  from  the  Latinized  form  ( Calvinus )  of  the 
original  French,  Cauvin. 


Zwingli  was 
slain  in 
battle,  and 
his  move¬ 
ment  was 
merged  in 
that  of 
Calvin. 


Calvin’s  re¬ 
volt  grew  out 
of  the  study 
of  the  Greek 
Testament. 
He  was  the 
first  Protes¬ 
tant  to 
undertake  a 
positive  sys¬ 
tem  of 
theology. 


192 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


At  Geneva 
he  worked 
out  his  the¬ 
ology,  and 
established 
colleges,  to 
the  manage¬ 
ment  of  one 
of  which  he 
called  Cor- 
derius. 


The  theory 
of  Corderius, 
as  shown  in 
his  De 

Emendatione 
and  Collo- 
quia. 


with  merely  attacking  Catholic  doctrine,  but  was  the 
first  Protestant  to  undertake  a  positive  system  of  theology, 
formulating  among  other  doctrines  that  of  ‘  predestina¬ 
tion.’  He  based  his  position  upon  the  infallibility  of  the 
Bible,  rather  than  that  of  the  pope  and  the  Church. 

Calvin’s  Encouragement  of  Education,  and  the  Work  of 
Corderius.  —  The  call  of  Calvin  from  Basel,  where  he 
had  first  settled  after  leaving  France,  to  reorganize  the 
civil  and  religious  administration  of  the  city  of  Geneva, 
gave  him  an  excellent  opportunity  for  working  out  his 
doctrines.  While  he  was  much  engrossed  in  religious 
disputes,  he  established  colleges  at  Geneva  and  elsewhere, 
and  in  other  ways  undertook  to  found  schools  and  pro¬ 
mote  education.  He  succeeded,  too,  in  persuading  his 
former  teacher,  Maturinus  Corderius  (1479-1 564),1  to 
come  to  Switzerland,  and  organize,  administer,  and  teach 
in  the  reformed  colleges.  From  1546  to  1559  Corderius 
managed  the  institution  at  Lausanne,  and  for  the  last 
five  years  of  his  life,  although  past  eighty,  he  taught  in 
the  College  de  la  Rive  in  Geneva  under  the  headmaster- 
ship  of  another.  From  his  two  chief  works,  De  Emenda¬ 
tione  and  Colloquia}  we  learn  the  character  of  the  course 
he  favored  and  obtain  a  vivid  account  of  the  life  and 
methods  of  the  schoolmaster  and  pupils  in  his  day. 
Clearly  the  ideal  for  education  with  Corderius  was  the 
pietas  literata  (‘learned  piety’)  of  Melanchthon,  Sturm, 
and  the  other  Northern  humanists.  In  the  De  Emen- 
datione ,  after  stating  his  purpose  of  developing  a  good 
French  and  Latin  style  in  the  pupils,  he  expresses  the 
desire  “  that  youths  not  only  may  be  stirred  to  speaking 
Latin,  but  also  stimulated  to  the  leading  of  a  noble  life. 
For  we  have  interspersed  in  the  whole  of  this  little  work, 
as  the  opportunity  offered,  a  number  of  exhortations  to 
live  a  pious  and  Christian  life.”  A  similar  attempt  at 
moral  and  religious  training,  while  teaching  Latin,  is 
made  in  the  conversations  upon  everyday  topics  in  the 
Colloquia.  From  this  work,  too,  we  may  infer  that  in 


1  See  pp.  143  f. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  1 93 


the  Calvinist  schools  psalms  were  sung  every  day,  public 
prayers  were  offered,  selections  from  the  Bible  repeated, 
questions  asked  concerning  the  sermon,  and  other  re¬ 
ligious  exercises  urged  upon  the  pupils. 

The  College  at  Geneva.  — That  humanistic  and  religious 
subjects  made  up  the  usual  curriculum  of  the  Calvinist 
colleges,  we  can  easily  perceive  from  the  course  of  the 
College  de  la  Rive  at  Geneva,  which  has  been  preserved 
to  us  in  the  ‘constitution’  of  1559.1  In  the  seven  classes 
of  this  school  the  pupils  first  learned  their  letters  and 
how  to  form  syllables,  then  they  were  taught  reading 
and  grammar  from  the  French-Latin  catechism,  and 
finally  they  studied  Vergil,  Cicero,  Ovid,  Caesar,  Livy, 
and  Latin  composition.  Greek  was  begun  in  the  fourth 
year,  and,  beside  such  classical  authors  as  Isocrates, 
Xenophon,  Polybius,  Homer,  and  Demosthenes,  and  the 
translation  of  Latin  into  Greek,  they  read  the  Gospels 
and  Epistles  in  the  original.  In  the  higher  classes,  as 
in  the  other  Reformation  schools,  they  studied  logic  from 
such  a  text  as  Melanchthon’s,  rhetoric  from  the  speeches 
of  Cicero  and  Demosthenes,  and  elocution  by  the  deliv¬ 
ery  of  two  original  orations  each  month. 

Spread  of  the  Calvinist  Education.  —  Colleges  of  the 
Calvinist  type  rapidly  spread  among  the  Huguenots  of 
France,  who  by  this  means  soon  became  far  better  edu¬ 
cated  than  the  rest  of  their  countrymen.  Also  as  Geneva 
became,  about  the  time  of  Calvin,  a  city  of  refuge  for 
all  the  oppressed,  Protestants  from  many  countries  im¬ 
bibed  the  religious  and  educational  ideas  of  Calvin,  and 
brought  them  back  to  their  native  lands.  Thus  Cal¬ 
vinism  and  a  regard  for  a  humanistic,  religious,  and 
universal  education  were  carried  not  only  through 
Switzerland,  France,  and  Germany,  but  were  taken  up 
by  the  persecuted  Netherlanders,  the  English  Protes¬ 
tants  of  Mary’s  time,  and  the  Scotch  in  the  days  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and,  being  also  adopted  by  the 
English  Puritans,  found  their  way  into  America. 


The  College 
de  la  Rive, 
its  seven 
classes,  and 
the  human¬ 
istic  and 
religious 
subjects 
taught  in 
each. 


French,  Ger¬ 
man,  Dutch, 
English,  and 
Scotch 
Protestants, 
fleeing  to 
Geneva, 
bring  back 
Calvinistic 
education 
with  them. 


1  See  Woodward’s  Education  during  the  Renaissance ,  pp.  158  ff. 


194 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Through 
John  Knox 
free  elemen¬ 
tary  schools 
were  estab¬ 
lished  in 
Scotland 
under  parish 
control. 


Henry  VIII 
induced 
Parliament 
to  make  him 
head  of  the 
Church,  and 
authorize 
him  to 
receive  the 
ecclesiastical 
payments. 


Knox  and  the  Elementary  Schools  of  Scotland.  —  But 

of  all  the  men  influenced  by  Calvin,  probably  his  contem¬ 
porary,  John  Knox{  1505-1572),  who  headed  the  religious 
revolt  in  Scotland,  was  the  most  forceful,  and  did  the 
most  important  work  for  education.  It  was  largely 
through  him  that  the  first  free  elementary  schools  were 
established  in  Scotland  under  the  control  of  the  parishes, 
and  education  was  freed  from  its  bondage  to  feudalism, 
ecclesiasticism,  and  royalty.  These  schools  were  to 
give  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  and  religion,  with 
the  Bible  as  text,  and  they  have  done  a  wonderful  work 
in  raising  the  level  of  intelligence  and  morality  in  Scot¬ 
land.1  Through  them,  since  they  have  not  always 
stopped  with  elementary  education,2  the  sons  of  even 
Scotch  laborers  and  peasants  have  been  able  to  rise  to 
positions  of  the  greatest  dignity. 

Causes  of  Henry  VIII’s  Revolt.  —  England  also  tended 
to  break  from  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  This  was 
somewhat  the  result  of  humanism,  and  possibly  of  the 
doctrines  of  Luther,3  which  had  later  spread  into  Eng¬ 
land,  but  the  immediate  cause  of  the  breach  was  the 
attack  made  upon  the  Church  by  the  king  and  govern¬ 
ment.  Henry  VIII  (reigned  1509-1547),  wanting  a 
male  heir,  and  being  tired  of  his  wife,  attempted  to 
secure  a  divorce  through  the  pope.  When  the  pope 
forbade  his  doing  this,  Henry  took  advantage  of  the 
independent  political  spirit  of  England  and  persuaded 
the  country  that  the  pope  was  interfering  with  their 
internal  affairs.  In  1533  the  king  induced  Parliament 
to  forbid  all  legal  appeals  to  any  authority  outside  the 
country,  and  then  had  his  marriage  set  aside  by  the 

1  In  the  matter  of  free  elementary  education,  Scotland  preceded  Eng¬ 
land  by  more  than  two  centuries.  In  England,  until  1870,  education  was 
furnished  almost  entirely  through  endowed  ‘  grammar  ’  or  ‘  public  ’  schools, 
private  schools,  or  institutions  maintained  by  religious  or  philanthropic 
societies. 

2  See  pp.  199  f. 

3  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Lollardism  also  furnished  a  congenial  soil  for 
individuality  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures.  While  the  Lollards  as  an 
organized  sect  no  longer  existed,  the  spirit  of  Wyclif  was  still  abroad  in 
the  land. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  1 95 


subservient  court  of  Archbishop  Cranmer.  He  further 
had  himself  recognized  as  head  of  the  national  church, 
and  was  given  the  right  by  Parliament  to  appoint  all 
bishops  and  to  receive  the  payments  that  were  formerly 
made  by  English  ecclesiastics  to  the  pope. 

The  Effect  of  Royal  Confiscations  upon  Education. — 
On  the  ground  that  the  monks  were  practicing  fraud 
and  immorality,  in  1536  Henry  began  to  confiscate  the 
*  monastic  lands  and  property.  Within  a  decade  he  sup¬ 
pressed  over  six  hundred  monasteries,  ninety  colleges, 
twenty-three  hundred  free  chapels,  and  one  hundred 
hospitals,  and  thereby  secured  an  annual  income  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds.  About  one  half  of 
the  plunder  thus  secured  Henry  spent  upon  coast  de¬ 
fenses  and  a  new  navy,  and  much  of  the  remainder  he 
distributed  among  his  favorites  and  supporters.  Very 
little  of  this  money  was  spent  for  education,  higher  or 
secondary,  to  atone  for  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
schools  and  colleges  he  had  wrought.  The  effect  upon 
education  of  the  reign  of  his  successor,  Edward  VI 
(1547-1553),  was  very  similar.1  It  was  formerly  sup¬ 
posed  that  this  latter  monarch  used  the  income  which 
he  secured  from  the  monastic  and  chantry  foundations 
in  the  cause  of  education.  Leach  has,  however,  shown 
that  “  never  was  a  great  reputation  more  easily  gained 
and  less  deserved  than  that  of  King  Edward  VI  as  a 
founder  of  schools.”  Elementary  and  secondary  schools 
were  old  institutions  in  England,  and  did  not  begin  with 
the  Reformation.  There  were  in  existence  from  the  time 
of  the  Middle  Ages  schools  upon  cathedral,  monastic,  col¬ 
legiate,  hospital,  gild,  chantry,  and  independent  foun¬ 
dations,  and  these  were  much  more  numerous  before  the 
Reformation  than  afterward.  Prior  to  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII,  even  the  smallest  towns  and  villages  would 

1The  basis  of  Edward’s  action  was,  however,  quite  different.  “At  the 
very  time  Henry  was  dissolving  the  Chantries  he  was  prosecuting  people 
for  not  believing  in  Purgatory.  The  Parliament  of  the  Protector  Somerset 
placed  their  action  on  religious  grounds.  They  dissolved  the  Chantries 
because  they  condemned  the  objects  of  the  Chantries.”  See  Leach, 
English  Schools  at  the  Refor?nation ,  pp.  65  ff. 


He  also  con¬ 
fiscated  the 
monastic 
lands 

and  property, 
and  spent 
little  of  the 
income  for 
education. 
His  succes¬ 
sor,  Edward 
VI,  did  not 
do  much 
better. 


196 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Some  schools 
were  not 
destroyed, 
and  a 
great  many 
others  were 
endowed  by 
wealthy  men 
during  the 
days  of  the 
last  Tudors 
and  the  first 
Stuarts.  All 
these  adopted 
the  curricu¬ 
lum  of  the 
Northern 
humanism. 


The  Anglican 
Church  re¬ 
mained  mid¬ 
way,  and  the 
Puritans  had 
to  form  their 
own  type  of 
education. 


seem  to  have  had  elementary  schools,  and  no  boy  would 
need  to  go  a  great  distance  for  a  ‘  grammar  ’  school, 
whereas  the  small  number  of  students  at  the  close  of 
the  Reformation  shows  the  effect  of  the  legislation  in 
the  days  of  King  Henry  and  his  son. 

The  Later  Increase  in  Grammar  Schools.  —  Of  the 
three  hundred  ‘  grammar  ’  schools  that  had  probably 
come  down  from  the  Middle  Ages,  however,  some,  by 
the  terms  of  the  parliamentary  acts,  were  not  destroyed, 
and  popular  sentiment  caused  others  to  be  refounded. 
And  after  the  establishment  of  St.  Paul’s  School  by 
Dean  Colet,1  the  number  of  ‘grammar’  schools  was 
very  largely  added  to,  though  by  the  philanthropy  of 
wealthy  men  rather  than  out  of  the  spoils  of  the  monas¬ 
teries.  During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  (1558-1603)  and 
of  the  first  two  Stuart  kings  (1603-1649)  these  founda¬ 
tions  were  greatly  increased  by  grants  of  land  and 
money.  All  of  these  schools,  largely  following  the  ex¬ 
ample  of  St.  Paul’s,  adopted  the  Northern  ideals  of 
humanism,2  and  furnished  a  curriculum  of  classics  and 
religious  training.  The  latter  became  based,  of  course, 
upon  the  teachings  of  the  Church  of  England.  These 
schools  were  intended  to  be  open  to  rich  and  poor  alike, 
an  ideal,  as  has  been  shown,3  that  was  afterward  lost 
sight  of,  and  it  was  hoped  that  every  parish  might  soon 
have  one  of  these  schools,  and  furnish  preparation  for 
the  university  to  all  boys  of  intelligence. 

The  Puritans  and  Their  Education.  —  Despite  his  radi¬ 
cal  changes  in  the  administration  of  the  Church,  Henry 
VIII  made  few  departures  from  the  old  doctrines.  He 
insisted  upon  the  retention  of  transubstantiation,  private 
masses,  confession,  and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy.4 
And  although  Edward  VI  and  Elizabeth  5  greatly  ad¬ 
vanced  Protestantism,  the  Anglican  ritual  remained 


1  See  pp.  167-170.  3  See  pp.  172  f. 

2  See  pp.  170  f.  4  See  footnote  on  p.  195. 

6  Mary,  whose  reign  (1553-1558)  came  between  those  of  these  sover¬ 

eigns,  naturally  sought  to  bring  the  English  Church  back  to  its  allegiance 

to  Rome. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  197 


midway  between  Catholicism  and  the  extreme  Protestant 
position,  and  gradually  a  third  party,  composed  of  more 
radical  Protestants,  arose  in  England.  These  people 
later  became  known  as  the  ‘  Puritans,’  and  were  forced 
to  inaugurate  a  type  of  education  and  set  of  schools  of 
their  own.  The  period  of  their  educational  prominence 
can  best  be  considered  later  on.1 

The  Aim  of  Protestant  Education.  —  After  this  general 
review  of  the  Reformation,  it  can  be  seen  that,  while 
other  factors  entered  into  the  various  revolts  from  the 
Church,  each  seems  to  have  had  a  common  element  in 
the  spirit  that  appeared  in  Northern  humanism.  The 
social  and  moral  awakening  of  this  Renaissance  of  the 
North  furnished  support  for  every  reform  of  Church 
doctrine  and  practice  that  arose.  Many  came  to  feel 
that  religion  did  not  consist  in  a  completed  revelation, 
but  in  a  progressive  interpretation  of  the  original  teach¬ 
ings  of  Christianity.  It  depended  less  upon  uncritical 
and  obedient  acceptance  of  dogma  than  upon  the  con¬ 
stant  application  of  reason  to  the  Scriptures.  The 
Protestants,  therefore,  generally  stressed  not  only  the 
religious  conception  of  education,  but  the  idea  of  its 
universality,  since  they  felt  that  every  one  should  be 
intelligent  enough  to  make  his  own  interpretation.  With 
nearly  all  of  them,  too,  education  was  to  be  civil  as  well 
as  religious.  It  must  promote  Christian  beliefs  and  lead 
to  church  affiliation,  they  held,  but  it  should  exist  quite 
as  much  for  the  sake  of  the  State  as  of  the  Church. 

The  Foundation  of  Elementary  Schools  in  Protestant 
Countries.  —  To  accomplish  this,  the  reformers,  as  a  rule, 
desired  to  cooperate  with  the  civil  officials  in  matters  of 
education,  and  to  have  the  schools  managed,  and  to  some 
extent  supported,  by  the  State.  It  came  to  be  felt  that 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  civic  authorities  to  insist  that  each 
child  should  obtain  at  least  an  elementary  training,  and 
in  this  way  the  modern  tendency  toward  universal,  free, 
and  compulsory  education  began.  Although  at  first  the 


Protestants 
held  that  a 
progressive 
interpretation 
of  Christian¬ 
ity  was 
needed,  and 
that  educa¬ 
tion  should 
be  religious, 
civil,  and 
universal. 


The 

reformers  co¬ 
operated 
with  the  civil 
officials,  and 
insisted  upon 
an  elemen¬ 
tary  educa¬ 
tion  for  all. 


1  See  Chapter  XIX,  and  Milton  in  Chapter  XVII. 


198 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


This  is  seen 
in  Magde¬ 
burg,  Eis- 
leben.andthe 
North  Ger¬ 
man  cities, 
and  in  Sax¬ 
ony,  Wiir- 
temberg,  and 
other  states. 


Protestant  reaction  from  authority  and  the  beaten  path 
produced  in  many  instances  confusion,  destruction  of 
schools,  and  a  depletion  of  educational  facilities  and  a 
lowering  of  standards,  it  resulted  eventually  in  the  gen¬ 
eral  foundation  of  elementary  schools  and  the  increase 
of  education  in  most  Protestant  countries. 

Elementary  Education  in  the  German  States.  —  In 
Germany  there  were  many  illustrations  of  this  spread 
of  elementary  education  and  civic  control.  These  prin¬ 
ciples  were,  as  has  been  evident,1  most  emphatically 
held  by  Luther  and  his  colleagues,  and  the  effect  of 
their  expression  of  them  was  widely  felt.  As  an  imme¬ 
diate  result  of  his  appeal  to  the  magistrates,2  in  1524 
the  city  of  Magdeburg  united  its  parish  schools  under 
one  management  and  adopted  the  Protestant  ideals.  So, 
in  1525,  upon  the  request  of  the  Count  of  Mansfeld, 
Melanchthon  organized  upon  a  Protestant  basis  the 
school  at  Eisleben,  which  included  elementary  as  well 
as  secondary  work.3  Similar  ideals  and  organization 
appear  in  the  provision  for  ‘  German  ’  schools  in  the 
‘Church  orders’  sent  out  by  Bugenhagen  in  1520-1537 
to  the  Protestant  cities  and  states  of  North  Germany.4 
A  further  step  was  taken  in  1528,  when  Melanchthon  was 
commissioned  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  schools  throughout 
the  entire  electorate  of  Saxony.3  This,  the  first  state 
school  system  in  history,  was  followed  by  one  in  Wiir- 
temberg,  where  in  1559  Duke  Christopher  adopted  a 
modification  of  the  Saxon  plan,  which  called  for  a 
religious  and  elementary  training  for  the  children  of 
the  common  people  in  every  village  of  the  duchy. 
Brunswick  in  1569,  and  Saxony  in  1580,  followed  the 
lead  of  Wiirtemberg,  and  made  new  statutes  to  im¬ 
prove  their  school  systems.  Before  the  middle  of  the 
next  century  a  number  of  other  states  of  Germany, 
such  as  Weimar,  Hessen-Darmstadt,  Mecklenburg, 
Holstein,  Hessen-Cassel,  and  Gotha,  started  elementary 
schools  after  an  improved  form  of  the  organization  in 

1  See  pp.  184  f.  and  187-189.  3  See  pp.  157  and  187. 

2  See  p.  184.  4  gee  p.  188. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  1 99 

Saxony  and  Wiirtemberg.  Of  these  the  most  complete 
and  systematic  was  that  established  in  1642  by  Ernst 
‘the  Pious,’  Duke  of  Gotha,  which  became  the  basis  of 
the  present  school  system  of  Germany. 

Equal  opportunities  for  girls  to  secure  elementary 
education  were  soon  provided  by  the  various  German 
states,  and  both  sexes  were  required  by  statute  to  attend 
school  during  certain  years.  As  early  as  1619  Weimar 
first  insisted  that  all  children,  boys  and  girls  alike, 
should  be  compelled  to  attend  school  from  the  sixth 
to  the  twelfth  year ;  and  when  Duke  Ernst  adopted  his 
system,  he  required  every  child  in  Gotha  to  enter  at  five 
and  stay  in  school  until  he  was  well  versed  in  religion 
and  the  rudiments.  In  spite  of  the  decimation  of  popu¬ 
lation  and  the  terrible  havoc  upon  finance  and  education 
wrought  by  the  Thirty  Years’  War  (1618-1648),  the 
institution  of  universal  education  continued  its  advance, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  practically 
every  village  throughout  the  German  states  had  its 
Volksschulen .  These  institutions  were  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  pastor  of  each  parish,  and  while  actual 
conditions  may  often  have  been  somewhat  below  the 
statutory  level,  every  child  not  studying  at  a  secondary 
school  was  in  theory  obliged,  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  thirteen,  to  attend  one  of  these  schools  of  the 
people. 

School  Systems  in  Holland,  Scotland,  and  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Colonies.  —  But  Germany  was  not  the  only  country 
to  feel  the  effect  of  the  Reformation  upon  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  elementary  schools.  Under  the  auspices  of  the 
Dutch  Protestant  movement,  Holland  made  early  pro¬ 
vision  for  instruction  in  religion,  reading,  and  writing. 
Notwithstanding  the  terrible  persecutions  of  Spain  and 
the  Duke  of  Alva  (1567-1573),  this  effort  at  universal 
training  continued,  and  just  as  the  Thirty  Years’  War 
began,  the  Synod  of  Dort,  by  a  combination  with  the 
State  authorities,  required  every  parish  to  furnish  elemen¬ 
tary  education  for  all.  Similarly,  as  an  outcome  of  the 
Reformation  and  the  work  of  John  Knox,  it  has  been 


Equal 

opportunities 
were  soon 
provided  for 
girls. 


Through  the 
Synod  of 
Dort,  every 
parish  in 
Holland  had 
to  furnish 
universal 
elementary 
education. 
The  Scotch 
parliament 
made  a  simi¬ 
lar  require¬ 
ment.  By 
enactments 
in  the 


200 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


various 
colonies, 
America 
early  estab¬ 
lished  ele¬ 
mentary 
schools. 


The  second¬ 
ary  schools 
in  the  various 
Protestant 
countries 


seen1  that  Scotland  also  started  elementary  schools  in 
the  parishes.  By  1616  a  decree  of  the  Privy  Council 
compelled  each  parish  to  maintain  a  school,  and  this  act 
was  ratified  by  the  Scotch  parliament  in  1633.  A  further 
step  was  taken  in  1646,  when  the  parliament  enacted 
that  there  be  “  a  Schoole  founded,  and  a  Schoole  master 
appointed  in  every  Parish,”  and  further  provided  that  if 
the  parish  should  fail  in  this  duty,  the  presbytery  should 
have  power  to  establish  the  school  and  compel  the  par¬ 
ish  to  maintain  it.  Half  a  century  later  this  school 
system  was  given  over  more  to  the  control  of  the  State, 
but  even  then  much  of  the  old  connection  with  the 
Church  was  apparent.  Again,  although  England  did 
not  generally  establish  elementary  schools  after  the 
breach  with  Rome,  her  colonies  in  America,  through 
the  schools  required  by  the  Dutch  of  their  trading  com¬ 
panies,  and  through  the  Puritans,  who  had  absorbed  Cal¬ 
vinist  principles,  almost  from  the  first  provided  elemen¬ 
tary  education.  During  the  seventeenth  century  the 
various  colonies  provided  for  a  general  system  not  only 
of  ‘  grammar  ’  schools,  as  shown  in  the  last  chapter,  but 
also  for  instruction  in  the  elements.  This  provision  was 
made  compulsory  in  1647  by  the  famous  act  of  the 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  already  mentioned,2 
which,  after  a  most  pious  preamble,  “ordered  yt  every 
towneship  in  this  iurisdiction,  after  ye  Lord  hath  in¬ 
creased  you  to  ye  number  of  50  householders,  shall  then 
forthwith  appoint  one  within  their  toune  to  teach  all 
such  children  as  shall  resort  to  him  to  write  and  reade.” 
Connecticut  followed  the  example  three  years  later,  and 
before  the  close  of  the  century,  similar  action  was  taken 
by  New  Hampshire,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  other 
colonies. 

The  Effect  of  Protestantism  upon  the  Secondary  Schools. 

—  While  the  increase  in  elementary  instruction  under 
civil  control  was  the  most  important  educational  out¬ 
come  of  the  Reformation  the  effect  of  the  movement 


1  See  p.  194. 


2  See  p.  174. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  201 


was  also  evident  in  the  secondary  schools,  whose  ideals 
had  been  largely  fixed  by  humanism.  As  the  Reforma¬ 
tion  advanced,  the  Latin  schools  and  Gymncisien  of 
Germany,  like  the  Fiirstenschulen,  came  under  the  con¬ 
trol  of  the  princes  and  the  State  rather  than  the  Church, 
and  gradually  became  the  backbone  of  the  state  school 
systems.  Luther’s  Letter  suggested  the  establishment 
of  secondary  schools,1  as  well  as  elementary,  under  the 
management  of  the  civil  authorities,  and  there  was  a 
speedy  response  not  only  in  such  cases  as  Eisleben  and 
the  cities  under  the  influence  of  Bugenhagen,  Trotzen- 
dorf,  Neander,  and  Sturm,  but  in  the  provision  made 
by  the  various  school  systems,  already  mentioned.  The 
religious  spirit,  however,  remained,  and  the  direct  man¬ 
agement  of  education  was  simply  transferred  to  Protes¬ 
tant  ministers  or  leaders.  The  schools  were  still  taught 
and  inspected  by  representatives  of  the  Church.  The 
change  came  in  the  form  of  organization  and  the  per¬ 
sonnel  of  the  administration.  In  England  there  was  a 
similar  transfer  of  management  to  the  Protestant  clergy. 
None  of  the  grammar  schools  was  outside  ecclesiastical 
control,  for,  while  these  secondary  institutions  were  not 
financed  by  the  Church,  their  existence  had  to  be  author¬ 
ized,  and  their  teachers  licensed  by  the  bishop,  and  under 
whatever  auspices  they  were  organized,  they  were  at 
any  time  liable  to  visitation  from  ecclesiastical  authority. 
The  one  marked  difference  was  that  the  Anglican 
Church  had  taken  the  place  of  the  Roman,  for  the  gram¬ 
mar  schools  were  never  organized,  like  the  Gymncisien, 
into  a  system.  Each  school  remained  independent  of 
the  rest  and  of  any  national  combination,  under  the  close 
corporation  established  by  Henry  VIII  or  Edward  VI, 
or  by  some  wealthy  founder.  The  Calvinistic  colleges, 
being  located  for  the  most  part  in  Catholic  countries, 
were  also  not  united  into  a  national  system,  although 
their  management  was  in  each  case  in  the  hands  of  the 
Huguenots  or  other  Calvinists.  In  Germany,  however, 


came  under 
the  control 
of  the  civil 
authorities 
and  the 
Protestant 
clergy. 


1  See  p.  184. 


202 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


In  many  in¬ 
stances  the 
universities 
turned 
Protestant, 
and  new 
Protestant 
universities 
were  de¬ 
veloped. 


where  the  colleges  approached  the  Filrstenschulen  in 
character,  they  were  absorbed  into  the  system  of  Gym- 
nasien.  Again,  the  Scotch  parish  schools,  while  intended 
primarily  for  elementary  education,  often  gave  second¬ 
ary  instruction  and  fitted  for  higher  work,  especially  as 
their  teachers  were  usually  university  graduates.1  F inally, 
the  Puritans  that  had  fled  to  America,  since  they  were 
also  Calvinists  in  their  turn  of  mind,  sought,  as  we  saw 
in  the  previous  chapter,2  to  vest  the  establishment  and 
control  of  the  grammar  schools  they  had  inherited  from 
the  mother  country  in  the  authorities  of  the  state  and 
the  several  towns. 

The  Organization  of  the  Universities. — The  universi¬ 
ties,  too,  in  Protestant  countries,  while  remaining  reli¬ 
gious  and  Christian  in  spirit,  in  many  instances  during 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  withdrew  from 
the  control  of  Church  and  pope,  and  came  under  the 
State  and  temporal  powers.  Although  still  supported 
by  the  old  foundations  of  monastic  days,  the  German 
universities,  together  with  the  rest  of  the  state,  often 
followed  the  prince  when  he  changed  from  the  old  creed 
to  the  new.  Wittenberg,  through  its  connection  with 
Luther  and  Melanchthon,  was  the  first  German  univer¬ 
sity  to  become  Protestant,  and  the  others,  such  as  Mar¬ 
burg,  Konigsberg,  Jena,  Helmstadt,  and  Dorpat  followed 
rapidly.  Sometimes  new  Protestant  universities,  as  in 
the  case  of  Altdorf  and  Strasburg,  were  developed  from 
the  Gymnasien.  The  English  universities,  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  went  over  to  Protestantism  with  the  national 
church.  A  few  new  colleges  and  regius  professorships  3 
were  founded  by  Henry  VIII  and  Edward  VI,  and 
additional  support  was  later  given  by  the  State  and  the 
Church  of  England.  In  America,  too,  Harvard  and 
other  early  colleges  were  closely  connected  with  the 
various  commonwealths  and  the  Calvinistic  or  the  Angli¬ 
can  communions. 

The  Studies  of  the  Curricula.  —  Such  was  the  effect  of 
the  Reformation  upon  the  organization  of  education, 
1  See  pp.  194  and  199  f.  2  See  pp.  173  f.  3  See  p.  164. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  203 


elementary,  secondary,  and  higher.  Similarly,  the 
course  of  study  in  the  various  Protestant  institutions  was, 
as  might  be  expected,  largely  shaped  by  the  political 
and  ecclesiastical  events  of  the  times.  In  the  elemen¬ 
tary  schools  the  curricula  were  primarily  religious,  and 
the  staple  subjects  included,  beside  reading,  writing,  and 
some  rude  arithmetic,  the  Scriptures,  the  Lord’s  Prayer, 
the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lutheran,  Calvinist,  or 
Anglican  creed  and  catechism,  and  the  hymns  and  sacred 
songs  of  the  Protestant  churches.  The  secondary  schools 
and  universities  were,  from  their  connection  with  the 
Renaissance  in  the  North,  largely  humanistic  and  reli¬ 
gious  in  their  courses.  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  were 
taught  chiefly,  that  it  might  be  possible  to  read  the  Bible 
and  the  Church  Fathers  in  the  original,  and  thus  form 
a  check  upon  the  traditional  interpretations,  while  in¬ 
struction  in  the  Latin  catechism,  creed,  and  prayer-book 
was  given  for  the  sake  of  success  in  theological  conten¬ 
tions.  Likewise,  in  the  universities  there  were  courses 
upon  dialectic,  mathematics,  rhetoric,  philosophy,  and 
theology  that  would  furnish  a  training  in  definition, 
argumentation,  and  forceful  discussion  with  ecclesiastical 
opponents. 

The  Lapse  into  Formalism  in  Content  and  Method. — 

There  was,  however,  always  a  tendency  to  lose  sight 
of  the  real  purpose  of  linguistic  and  religious  studies, 
and  to  esteem  these  subjects  as  material  for  discipline 
rather  than  because  of  the  value  of  their  content.  Thus 
the  studies  largely  became  an  end  in  themselves  and 
were  deprived  of  almost  all  their  vitality  and  strength. 
The  curriculum  of  the  institutions  became  fixed  and 
stereotyped  in  nature,  and  education  lapsed  into  a  for¬ 
malism  but  little  superior  to  that  of  the  mediaeval  scho¬ 
lastics.  As  in  the  later  humanistic  training,  the  methods 
of  teaching  came  to  stress  the  memory  and  logical 
activity.  Hence,  while  the  Protestants  had  nominally 
broken  with  tradition  and  resorted  to  reason  as  a  guide, 
such  a  conception  of  the  curriculum  and  of  method  nec¬ 
essarily  tended  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  authority 


The  cur¬ 
ricula  were 
religious  and 
humanistic, 


but  educa¬ 
tion  soon 
lapsed  into  a 
formalism 
but  little  su¬ 
perior  to  that 
of  scholasti¬ 
cism. 


204 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


As  the 
Protestant 
leaders 
became 
successful, 
they  refused 
liberty  of 
conscience 
to  others, 
and  reacted 
from  the 
individual¬ 
ism  of  the 
Renaissance 
and  Refor¬ 
mation. 


and  the  repression  of  the  individual.  The  management 
and  instruction  of  the  schools,  too,  remained  generally 
in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  although  these  authorities 
were  now  Protestants  instead  of  Catholics. 

The  Distrust  of  Reason  and  Individualism.  —  In  this 
way,  as  the  Protestant  cause  came  to  have  a  foundation 
of  its  own,  the  vitalizing  tendency  to  rely  upon  reason 
rather  than  dogma  hardened  into  a  fresh  distrust  of  ra¬ 
tionality  and  individualism.  Liberty  of  conscience  was 
insisted  upon  during  their  revolt  by  Protestant  leaders, 
but  when  once  they  met  with  some  measure  of  success 
they  felt  it  impossible  to  grant  the  same  right  to  others 
that  differed  from  them.  While  making  his  fight 
against  the  pope,  Luther  declared  “that  reason  is  the 
chief  of  all  things,  and  among  all  that  belongs  to  this 
life,  the  best,  yea,  a  something  divine,”  and  even  earlier 
he  insisted  that  “surely  what  is  contrary  to  reason  is 
more  contrary  to  God”;  but  when  his  position  had  be¬ 
come  well  established,  he  swung  to  the  opposite  extreme 
and  held  that  “  the  more  subtle  and  acute  reason  is,  the 
more  poisonous  a  beast  it  is,  with  many  dragons’  heads ; 
it  is  against  God  and  all  his  works.”  Hence  he  held 
that  Zwingli’s  rational  view  of  the  eucharist  placed  him 
outside  the  pale  of  Christianity. 1  Henry  VIII  similarly 
took  pride  in  presiding  at  the  trial  of  one  who  held  to 
this  interpretation  of  Zwingli’s,  and  argued  in  behalf  of 
his  death  at  the  stake.  In  the  same  way,  Calvin  did 
actually  sanction  the  burning  of  Servetus2  for  heresy, 
and  this  action  was  approved  by  Melanchthon,  while 
Knox  declared  it  a  “pious  and  memorable  example  to  all 
posterity.” 

Apparently  all  the  other  Protestant  reformers  were 
similarly  inoculated  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  bade 
farewell  to  ‘  reason  ’  when  their  own  doctrines  and  opin¬ 
ions  were  once  well  fixed.  So  various  creeds  were 
established  as  authoritative,  and  were  enforced  by  the 

1  See  p.  190. 

2  See  Complaint  against  Servetus  in  Whitcomb,  Period  of  the  Later 
Reformation ,  II,  pp.  12-16. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  20  5 


governments,  wherever  they  were  adopted.  An  im¬ 
proved  statement  of  doctrine  was  regarded  as  the  most 
important  feature  of  religion,  and  the  possibility  of  a 
religious  life  for  others  under  any  formulation  than 
one’s  own  was  emphatically  denied.  The  various  Prot¬ 
estant  sects  became  as  intolerant  of  any  opposing  doc¬ 
trine  as  ever  Mother  Church  had  been.  The  standard 
for  estimating  religion  came  to  be  theological  formula¬ 
tions  rather  than  life  and  conduct. 

Under  these  conditions  there  was  about  as  little  liber¬ 
ality  in  the  Protestant  education  as  in  that  it  sought  to 
supplant.  The  schools  of  the  reformers  strove  to  propa¬ 
gate  their  new  types  of  Christianity  with  little  regard  for 
open-mindedness  and  the  search  for  truth.  During  the 
latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century,  despite  the  humanistic  and  religious 
material  of  the  curriculum,  there  was  a  decided  tendency 
to  react  from  the  individualism  of  the  Renaissance  and 
the  early  part  of  the  Reformation.  The  Protestant 
Reformation  had  largely  abandoned  its  mission. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Barnard,  H.  German  Teachers  and  Educators  (VI  on  Luther 
gives  a  translation  of  his  Letter  and  parts  of  his  Sermon). 
Cheyney,  E.  P.  Early  Reformation  Period  in  England  (Transla¬ 
tions  and  Reprints,  I,  No.  i). 

Cheyney,  E.  P.  England  in  the  Time  of  Wy cliff e. 

Jackson,  S.  M.  Selections  from  the  Writings  of  Zwingli. 
Michelet,  M.  (Editor).  The  Life  of  Luther  Written  by  Himself 
(translated  by  Hazlitt) . 

Painter,  F.  V.  N.  Luther  on  Education  (contains  Letter  to  Mayors 
and  Aldermen  and  Sermon  on  Duty  of  Sending  Children  to 
School) . 

Robinson,  J.  H.,  and  Whitcomb,  M.  Period  of  the  Early  Refor¬ 
mation  in  Germany  (Translations  and  Reprints,  II,  No.  6). 
Robinson,  J.  H.  Readings  in  European  History.  Vol.  II,  Chaps. 
XXV-XXVII. 

Robinson.  J.  H.  The  Pre-Reformation  Period. 

Whitcomb,  M.  Period  of  the  Later  Reformation  (Translations  and 
Reprints,  III,  No.  3).  II.  The  Geneva  Reformation. 


20  6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


II.  Authorities 

Acton,  Lord.  The  Cambridge  Modern  History.  The  Reforma¬ 
tion,  Chaps.  IV-VI  and  XIX. 

Adams,  G.  B.  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Chaps.  XVI 
and  XVII. 

Barnard,  H.  American  Journal  of  Pedagogy .  Vols.  VI,  426-432  ; 
XI,  159-164  ;  XVII,  165-175  ;  XXVIII,  1-16. 

Barnard,  H.  English  Pedagogy.  Second  Series,  I-VI. 

Barnard,  H.  German  Teachers  and  Educators.  VI-IX. 

Beard,  C.  Martin  Luther  and  the  Reformation. 

Beard,  C.  The  Reformation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  in  its  Rela¬ 
tion  to  Modern  Thought  and  Knowledge  (Hibbert  Lectures, 
1883).  Chaps.  I-IV. 

Creighton,  M.  History  of  the  Papacy.  Vol.  VI,  Chaps.  Ill,  V, 
VII,  and  VIII. 

Draper,  J.  W.  Intellectual  Develop?nent  of  Europe.  Vol.  II, 
Chaps.  VI  and  VII. 

Fisher,  G.  P.  The  Reformation.  Chaps.  I-X. 

Hausser,  L.  The  Period  of  the  Reformation  (translated  by 
Sturge).  Pts.  I-VI. 

Henderson,  E.  F.  A  Short  History  of  Germany.  Vol.  I,  Chaps. 

x-xv. 

Jackson,  S.  M.  Hiddreich  Zwingli. 

Jacobs,  H.  E.  Martin  Luther.  Bk.  II. 

Janssen,  J.  History  of  the  German  People  at  the  Close  of  the  Mid¬ 
dle  Ages.  Vols.  III-X. 

Koestlin,  J .  Life  of  Luther. 

Kurtz,  J.  H.  Text-book  in  Church  History  (translated  by  Bonv 
berger).  Vol.  II,  pp.  32-150. 

Lindsay,  T.  M.  A  History  of  the  Reformation.  Bks.  II-V. 

Mertz,  G.  K.  Das  Schulwesen  der  Deutschen  Reformation. 
Chaps.  I-IV. 

Mceller,  W.  History  of  the  Christian  Church  hi  the  Middle  Ages 
(translated  by  Rutherfurd).  Fourth  Period. 

Nohle,  E.  History  of  the  German  School  System  (Report  of  the 
U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1897-98,  Vol.  I,  Chap.  I, 
§  HI,  a). 

Painter,  F.  V.  N.  History  of  Education.  Pp.  135-154. 

Painter,  F.  V.  N.  Luther  on  Education. 

Pastor,  L.  History  of  the  Popes  (edited  by  Kerr). 

Paulsen,  F.  German  Universities  (translated  by  Thilly  and 
Elwang).  Bk.  I,  Chap.  II,  §  I ;  Bk.  II,  Chap.  III. 

Poole,  R.  L.  Wy cliff e  and  Movements  for  Reform. 

Russell,  J.  E.  German  Higher  Schools.  Chaps.  II-IV. 

Schaff,  P.  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  Vols.  VI  and  VII. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  2C? 


Seebohm,  F.  The  Era  of  the  Protestant  Revolution.  Pt.  II, 
Chaps.  II-V  ;  Pt.  Ill,  Chaps.  I-V. 

Walker,  W.  John  Calvin. 

Walker,  W.  The  Reformation.  Chaps.  Ill— VIII. 

Watson,  F.  Maturinus  Corderius  ( The  School  Review ,  Vol.  XII, 
Nos.  4,  7,  and  9). 


CHAPTER  XVI 


The  efforts 
of  the  Catho¬ 
lics  to  crush 
the  Protes¬ 
tant  heresy 
resulted  in  a 
number  of 
extended 
conflicts. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 

The  Council  of  Trent  and  the  Catholic  Reaction. — 
Some  time  before  Luther  and  the  others  revolted,  there 
had  been  many  reformers  within  the  Church  who  wished 
to  improve  the  character  of  the  priesthood  and  purify 
its  practices  without  changing  the  organization.1  But 
this  movement  must  have  been  greatly  stimulated  by 
the  secession  of  the  Protestants,  and  the  Council  of 
Trent  was  called  in  1545  to  rid  the  Church  of  abuses, 
as  well  as  to  repress  heresy.  A  number  of  important 
reforms  were  made,  but  the  spirit  of  the  Council  as  a 
whole  was  reactionary.  The  chief  consideration  became 
a  careful  reaffirmation  of  the  Catholic  doctrines  and  ad¬ 
ministration,  and  the  specific  rejection  of  all  Protestant 
principles. 

Thereafter,  the  Catholics  devoted  their  main  efforts 
to  crushing  the  Protestant  heresy  and  recovering  the 
ground  they  had  lost.  The  result  was  a  number  of  reli¬ 
gious  wars  between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  These 
usually  began  within  a  single  country,  but  tended  to 
become  international.  Such  were  the  civil  wars  in 
France,  with  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew’s  Day 
(1562-1598);  the  uprising  of  the  Dutch  during  their 
oppression  by  Philip  II  and  the  ‘bloody’  Duke  of  Alva 
and  other  governors  (1567-1585);  the  disorders  in  Eng¬ 
land,  culminating  in  the  execution  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots  (1569-1587)  and  the  attack  of  the  Spanish 
Armada  the  next  year;  and  finally,  the  ruinous  series  of 

1  For  that  reason  it  seems  scarcely  proper  to  refer  to  the  Catholic  at¬ 
tempts  at  reform  as  ‘the  Counter- Reformation,’  thereby  implying  that 
this  arose  for  the  first  time  in  response  to  the  movements  of  the  Protes¬ 
tants.  See  footnote  1  on  p.  179. 


208 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


209 


national  and  international  conflicts  known  as  the  ‘Thirty 
Years’  War’  (1618-1648),  in  which  Denmark,  Sweden, 
France,  and  Spain,  as  well  as  Germany,  all  played  a 
part,  and  through  which  progress  in  Europe  was  put 
back  a  hundred  years. 

Loyola  and  the  Foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  — 

In  these  reactionary  movements  Philip  II,  with  his  terri¬ 
ble  Spanish  Inquisition,  acted  only  as  a  destructive  and 
suppressive  agent,  but  a  more  effective  and  constructive 
instrument  in  advancing  the  interests  of  Catholicism 
was  the  religious  organization  known  as  the  Jesuits. 
This  order  had  been  founded  by  Ignatius  de  Loyola 1 
(1491-1556),  a  knight  of  the  little  Spanish  kingdom  of 
Navarre  and  a  contemporary  of  Luther’s.  Loyola  had 
been  severely  injured  in  the  siege  of  Pampelona  by  the 
French  in  1521,  and  while  recovering  in  his  father’s 
castle  he  read  the  Lives  of  the  Saints ,  and  was  inspired 
to  do  some  service  for  God  and  the  Church.  He  had  at 
first  gone  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  but  seeing  that 
little  could  be  accomplished  without  an  education,  he 
returned,  and,  although  already  thirty-three,  entered  the 
grammar  school  at  Barcelona.  Later  he  undertook  a 
university  training  at  Alcala  and  Salamanca.  In  1534, 
while  studying  still  further  at  Paris,  Loyola  had  per¬ 
suaded  six2  fellow-students  to  join  with  him  in  devoting 
themselves  to  missionary  work  and  to  maintaining  the 
authority  of  the  pope.  Six  years  later,  after  considera¬ 
ble  opposition,  the  new  order  had  been  recognized  by 
Pope  Paul  III,  and  the  Societas  Jesu  (‘  Society  of  Jesus  ’), 
as  it  was  called,3  had  entered  upon  its  campaign  of  con¬ 
verting  the  heathen  and  combating  Protestantism.  Many 
privileges,  in  the  way  of  founding  schools,  teaching,  and 
lecturing  publicly,  were  added  by  subsequent  popes,  and 

1  He  was  called  de  Loyola  from  his  ancestral  estate,  his  original  name 
being  Don  Inigo  Lopez  de  Recalde. 

2  These  were  the  pious  and  scholarly  Francisco  de  Xavier  (‘Francis 
Xavier’))  afterward  canonized,  Laynez ,  Bobadilla,  Faber ,  Salmeron ,  and 
Rodriguez. 

3  The  members  gave  their  brotherhood  this  name  even  before  it  was 
sanctioned  by  the  pontiff. 

P 


In  this  re¬ 
action  the 
Inquisition 
was  purely 
destructive, 
while  the 
Jesuits  were 
constructive 
in  their  aid 
to  Catholi¬ 
cism. 


Early  life  of 
Loyola,  the 
founder  of 
the  Jesuits. 


210 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Jesuit 

ideal  was  to 

extend 

Catholic 

organization 

throughout 

the  world. 


The  Constitu¬ 
tion  was  not 
published 
until  1558, 
and  the  Ratio 
Studiorum 
not  until 
1599. 


At  the  head 
of  the  organi 
zation  is  the 
*  general/ 


after  a  varied  career  of  nearly  three  centuries,  the  organ¬ 
ization  is  still  in  existence,  and  is  worthy  of  careful 
study  as  one  of  the  most  influential  institutions  in  the 
history  of  education. 

The  Aim  of  the  Jesuit  Education.  —  The  Jesuits  sought 
to  carry  on  their  work  of  strengthening  the  pope  and 
eliminating  Protestant  heresies  in  two  ways.  They 
strove  through  missionary  labors  to  win  back  Protestant 
territory  to  its  former  allegiance  and  extend  Catholic 
organization  throughout  the  world,  and  by  means  of 
their  schools  to  hold  their  converts  and  educate  all 
peoples  to  submission.  Protestant  education  was  to  be 
counteracted  by  the  establishment  of  equally  good  or 
better  Catholic  facilities.  Their  educational  ideal,  there¬ 
fore,  has  been  to  equip  all  youth,  whether  intending  to 
enter  the  order  or  not,  with  principles  and  habits  of  life 
in  harmony  with  morality,  religion,  and  the  teachings  of 
the  Catholic  Church. 

The  Constitutiones  and  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  —  The  out¬ 
line  of  the  Jesuit  organization  was  drafted  by  Loyola,  with 
the  assistance  of  Diego  Laynez ,  the  provincial  of  Italy, 
during  the  sixteen  years  that  intervened  between  the 
pope’s  sanction  of  the  order  and  the  death  of  its  founder. 
However,  this  Constitutiones  (‘Constitution’)  was  not 
given  its  final  revision  and  approval  until  two  years  later, 
under  the  generalship  of  Laynez.  The  Ratio  atque 
Institutio  Studiorum  Societatis  Jesu  (‘  The  Method  and 
System  of  Studies  of  the  Society  of  Jesus’),  which  was 
an  expansion  of  Part  Four  of  the  Constitution  and 
described  the  school  administration  in  detail,  was  not 
published  until  1599,  when  Claudio  Acquaviva  had  be¬ 
come  the  general.  This  Ratio  Studiorum ,  therefore, 
summed  up  the  experience  of  the  Jesuit  schools  during 
fully  sixty  years,  and  was  worked  over  and  revised  by 
several  important  commissions  before  being  presented 
as  a  permanent  educational  system  for  the  order. 

Military  Organization  of  the  Jesuits.  —  In  accordance 
with  the  Constitution ,  the  organization  of  the  schools 
and  of  the  society  at  large  has  always  been  military  in 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


21  I 


type.  After  his  change  of  life  purpose,  Loyola  still  had 
the  instincts  and  habits  of  a  soldier,  and  did  not  believe 
that  any  system  could  be  effective,  unless,  like  that  of 
the  army,  it  was  based  upon  implicit  obedience  to  one’s 
official  superiors.  Hence,  from  the  first,  the  Jesuits 
have  had  a  stable  and  uniform  organization.  At  the 
head  of  the  order  is  the  general , 1  who  is  elected  for  life 
and  has  unlimited  powers.  For  the  order,  he  is  as  the 
pope  to  the  entire  Church,  —  the  vicar  of  God.  “  In 
him  should  Christ  be  honored  as  present  in  his  per¬ 
son.” 1  2  As  the  society  spread,  the  countries  that  came 
under  its  control  were  divided  into  provinces.  At  the 
head  of  all  the  Jesuit  interests,  spiritual  and  educational, 
within  each  one  of  these  districts  is  the  provincial} 
who  is  chosen  by  the  general  for  three  years.  In  each 
province,  besides  other  Jesuit  institutions,  on  the  educa¬ 
tional  side,  there  are  various  colleges,  whose  presiding 
officer  is  usually  known  as  the  rector.  The  rector  is 
appointed  for  three  years  by  the  general,  but  is  directly 
responsible  and  reports  to  the  provincial.  Similarly, 
within  each  college  are  prefects  of  studies ,  immediately 
subordinate  to  the  rector,  but  selected  by  the  provincial. 
Under  the  constant  inspection  of  the  rector  and  the 
prefects  are  the  professors  or  preceptors ,3  and  each  pro¬ 
fessor  is  assisted  by  one  or  more  monitors ,  selected  from 
the  students.  This  series  of  official  gradations,  with  its 
checks  and  balances,  has  kept  the  Jesuit  teachers  from 
any  display  of  individualism  and  prevented  any  serious 
change  in  the  established  system  since  the  beginning. 

The  Lower  and  Upper  Colleges  of  the  Jesuits.  —  The 
Jesuits  never  engaged  in  elementary  education.  From 
the  time  the  Constitution  was  formulated,  their  pupils 
had  to  know  how  to  read  and  write  before  being  ad¬ 
mitted  to  any  school.  The  Jesuits  claimed  that  this 

1  The  full  titles  are  praepositus  generalis  and  praepositus  provincialis. 

2  His  power  and  influence  are  so  great  that  he  has  often  been  denomi¬ 
nated  ‘the  black  pope.’ 

3  While  these  titles  have  varied  from  time  to  time,  in  general  professor 
has  been  used  in  the  upper  classes,  and  pr acceptor  in  the  lower. 


with  un¬ 
limited 
powers ; 
over  each 
district  is  a 
‘  provincial,' 
chosen  by 
the  general; 
at  the  head 
of  each  col¬ 
lege  is  the 
*  rector,’  ap¬ 
pointed  by 
the  general, 
but  responsi¬ 
ble  to  the 
provincial ; 
and  under 
the  ‘  rector  ’ 
are  ‘  prefects,’ 
‘  professors,’ 
and  ‘  mon¬ 
itors.’ 


The  Jesuit 
educational 
organization 
has  consisted 
of  a  second¬ 
ary  course  in 
the  ‘  studia 
inferiora,’ 


21 2 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  a  uni¬ 
versity  course 
in  the  ‘  studia 
superiora.’ 


The  *  scho- 
lastici  ’  and 
the'externi’; 


the  ‘  coadju- 
tores  ’  and 
the 1  professi.’ 


was  necessary  because  their  limited  number  of  teachers 
did  not  warrant  their  offering  a  training  in  the  rudiments. 
But  it  is  barely  possible  that  they  were  shrewd  enough 
to  perceive  how  much  deeper  an  impression  could  be 
made  upon  boys  during  the  adolescent  stage.  Moreover, 
when  the  Jesuits  began  their  work,  the  public  elementary 
school  was  just  coming  to  be  regarded  as  of  importance, 
and  the  secondary  education  of  the  humanistic  type  was 
everywhere  dominant.  In  consequence,  the  Constitution 
limited  the  Jesuit  educational  organization  to  studia 
inferiora  (‘lower  colleges’),  or  schools  with  a  gymnasial 
course,  and  studia  superiora  (‘  upper  colleges  ’),  which 
were  to  be  of  university  grade. 

The  smaller  Jesuit  ‘colleges,’  of  course,  have  furnished 
only  the  secondary  work,  and  have  been  by  far  the  more 
numerous.  Boys  are  admitted  to  these  lower  colleges 
at  from  ten  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  spend  five  or 
six  years  there.  After  finishing  this  secondary  curricu 
lum,  the  student  spends  two  years  in  religious  prepa¬ 
ration  before  entering  the  higher  work.  During  the 
university  course,  those  who  are  in  training  for  member¬ 
ship  in  the  order  are  known  as  scholastici ,  while  other 
students  are  ranked  as  externi.  The  full  university 
course  lasts  seven  or  nine  years,  without  counting  the 
five  or  six  years  taken  in  the  middle  of  it  by  most  young 
Jesuits  for  teaching  in  the  lower  college.  At  the  end  of 
the  university  training,  the  students  usually  become 
either  coadjutores  spirituals  (‘spiritual  assistants ’) 1  or 
professi  (‘  professed  ’).2  The  coadjutores  spirituals,  who 
make  up  the  largest  part  of  the  order,  take  the  three 
monastic  vows  of  chastity,  poverty,  and  obedience,  and 
bind  themselves  to  zealous  preaching  and  teaching, 
especially  the  latter.  The  care  of  the  colleges  is  in 
their  hands.  The  professi  take  an  additional  oath  to 
place  themselves  absolutely  at  the  disposal  of  the  pope 
and  to  travel  continually  on  assigned  missions,  if  neces- 

1  There  are  also  coadjutores  temporales ,  lay  brothers  who  engage  in 
secular  pursuits  outside  of  preaching  and  teaching. 

2  I.e.  professi  quattuor  votorum. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


213 


sary.  They  are  the  aristocracy,  and,  under  the  general, 
the  legislative  body  of  the  order,  and  from  their  number 
only  can  the  general  and  provincials  be  selected.  Hence 
a  complete  Jesuit  training  might  take  from  twenty-one 
to  twenty-three  years,  counting  in  the  years  of  novitiate 
and  teaching,  and  a  ‘  professed  ’  or  4  coadjutor  ’  member 
of  the  order  might  well  be  thirty-five  years  of  age  before 
completing  his  education. 

Endowment  and  Administration  of  the  Colleges.  — 

Loyola  was  intensely  practical  in  all  his  arrangements 
for  maintaining  the  work  of  the  order.  He  insisted 
early  that  no  Jesuit  college  should  be  located  where 
suitable  provision  could  not  be  made  for  buildings  and 
equipment,  support  of  the  professors,  and  a  steady  at¬ 
tendance,  or  where  the  social  and  political  conditions 
were  unfavorable  to  freedom  of  action.  These  regula¬ 
tions  were  extended  and  made  more  definite  by  his 
successors,  and  the  Jesuits  have  been  widely  known  for 
the  generous  gifts  and  bequests  that  have  come  into 
their  hands,  and  for  their  wisdom  of  administration. 
They  have  steadfastly  opposed  any  tuition  fee  or  any¬ 
thing  else  that  might  interfere  with  their  securing  the 
ablest  recruits  possible.  Gratis  accepistis ,  gratis  date 
(‘freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give’)  commanded  the 
Constitution }  and  while  in  some  places  colleges  were 
founded  especially  for  the  nobility  and  princes,  usually 
no  social  distinctions  have  been  permitted,  and  the  poor 
and  lowly  born  have  mingled  indiscriminately  with  the 
aristocratic  and  wealthy. 

The  Humanistic  Curriculum  of  the  Lower  Colleges.  — 

The  course  of  study  in  the  Jesuit  colleges  was  the 
natural  product  of  the  period  in  which  they  were  started. 
In  the  lower  school  the  curriculum  was  originally  of  the 
humanistic  and  religious  type,  and  seems  to  have  been 
somewhat  modeled  after  that  of  the  Hieronymian 
schools,  and  may  also  have  been  influenced  by  the 
ideas  of  Sturm.2  Their  humanism,  at  any  rate,  soon 

1  Pars  IV,  Cap.  VII,  n.  3. 

2  Some  have  claimed  that  Sturm  copied  the  Jesuit  system  rather  than 


The  Jesuit 
colleges  have 
had  to  be 
suitably 
equipped 
and  sup¬ 
ported. 


Tuition  is 
free  and  no 
social  dis¬ 
tinctions 
have  been 
permitted. 


The  course 
of  the  lower 
colleges  was 
largely  lim¬ 
ited  to  speak¬ 
ing  and  writ¬ 
ing  Cicero¬ 
nian  Latin, 
but  after  1832 
some  modern 
studies  were 
added. 


214 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


In  the  board¬ 
ing  colleges 
Christian 
instruction 
and  religious 
observances 
were  prac¬ 
ticed. 


Suavity  and 
good  man¬ 
ners. 


became  of  the  narrower  sort,  and  was  limited  largely  to 
a  drill  in  speaking  and  writing  Ciceronian  Latin.  All 
study  of  the  vernacular  was  forbidden,  unless  special 
permission  was  obtained  from  the  provincial,  and,  ex¬ 
cept  on  a  holiday,  nothing  but  Latin  could  ever  be 
spoken.  The  first  three  classes  were  devoted  to  a 
careful  study  of  Latin  grammar,  and  a  little  of  Greek ; 
in  the  fourth  year,  under  the  name  of  humanitas ,  a 
number  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  poets  and  historians 
were  read ;  while  the  last  class,  to  which  two  years  were 
usually  given,  took  up  a  rhetorical  study  of  the  classical 
authors.  Only  slight  variations  in  the  curriculum  were 
allowed  after  1599,  until  1832,  when  there  was  a  re¬ 
vision  by  which  a  little  work  in  mathematics,  the  natural 
sciences,  history,  and  geography  was  added.  However, 
the  classics  remain  to-day  the  largest  element  of  the 
studia  inferiora ,  and  the  course  is  still  weighted  with 
formalism.1 

Moral  and  Social  Training.  —  The  social,  moral,  and 
religious  training  has,  however,  from  the  first  been  con¬ 
sidered  very  important.  Boarding  colleges,  called 
Convictus ,  where  the  pupils  could  be  constantly  under 
the  care  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  were  established  as  early 
as  the  generalship  of  Laynez  (1556-1565).  In  these 
institutions,  Christian  instruction,  prayers,  meditation, 
and  all  religious  observances,  such  as  daily  mass  and 
frequent  confession,  were  in  constant  practice,  and  de¬ 
termined  efforts  were  made  to  remove  all  vicious  ten¬ 
dencies  from  the  life  of  the  youths.  Moreover,  the 
Jesuits,  in  spite  of  the  formal  character  of  their  course, 
have  shown  themselves  eminently  wise  and  practical  in 
worldly  matters.  Their  pupils  have  ever  been  famous 
for  their  suavity  and  polished  manners,  and  the  facility 


the  reverse.  Probably  both  systems  were  the  product  of  the  times,  and 
each  affected  the  other. 

1  This  restriction,  however,  is  not  admitted  by  Hughes,  who  claims 
in  his  Loyola  (p.  93)  :  “  As  the  new  sciences  came  into  vogue,  they  received 
at  once  the  freedom  of  this  city  of  intellect;  and  here  they  received  it 
first.” 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS  21 5 

with  which  they  handle  Latin,  once  the  medium  of  in¬ 
tercourse  between  nations. 

The  Philosophical  and  Theological  Courses  in  the  Upper 
Colleges.  —  The  curriculum  of  the  upper  colleges  or 
universities  of  the  Jesuits  has  regularly  offered  three 
years  in  philosophy,  followed  by  a  theological  education 
of  six  years.  The  training  in  ‘  philosophy  ’  now  includes 
not  only  logic,  metaphysics,  psychology,  ethics,  and 
natural  theology,  but  also  work  in  algebra,  geometry, 
trigonometry,  analytics,  calculus,  and  mechanics,  and 
such  natural  sciences  as  physics,  chemistry,  geology, 
astronomy,  and  physiology,  together  with  outside  elec¬ 
tives.  This  philosophical  course  leads  to  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts ,  if  the  student  passes  successfully  in  a 
public  examination  upon  all  the  subjects.  After  the 
course  in  philosophy,  most  of  the  Jesuits  teach  in  the 
lower  colleges  five  or  six  years,1  while  they  are  still  in 
large  sympathy  with  youth.  In  the  ‘  theological  ’  course 
four  years  are  devoted  to  a  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
Hebrew,  and  other  Oriental  languages  that  may  throw 
light  upon  the  Bible,  together  with  church  history,  canon 
law,  and  electives,  as  well  as  theology  proper.  After 
this,  there  is  offered  a  further  training  of  two  years,  to 
review  the  work  in  philosophy  and  theology,  and  to 
prepare  a  thesis  for  public  presentation.  At  the  end  of 
this  course,  the  candidate  for  graduation  defends  his 
thesis  and  undergoes  another  public  examination,  and, 
if  successful,  is  awarded  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 
The  universities  now  also  offer,  in  the  place  of  theology, 
courses  in  law  and  medicine  under  faculties  from  out¬ 
side  the  order,  and  this  professional  work  leads  to  the 
appropriate  degrees. 

Excellence  of  the  Jesuit  Teaching.  —  The  methods  of 
teaching  and  the  splendid  qualification  of  the  instructors 
were  the  most  distinctive  features  of  the  Jesuit  colleges. 
When  one  considers  how  little  attention  had  up  to  that 
time  been  given  to  the  preparation  of  teachers,  the 

1  They  ordinarily  begin  by  teaching  in  the  first  class  and  advance  reg¬ 
ularly  through  the  entire  six  years. 


In  the  upper 
colleges 
there  is  given 
a  course  of 
three  years 
in  ‘  philoso¬ 
phy,’  leading 
to  the  mas¬ 
ter’s  degree ; 
and  a  course 
in  ‘  theology,’ 
leading  to  the 
doctorate  in 
divinity. 


All  teachers 
had  to  be 
carefully 
trained. 


21 6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Instruction 
was  imparted 
orally  in  the 
‘  praelectio,’ 
in  which  was 
given  first 
the  general 
meaning  and 
then  the 
detailed  ex¬ 
planation. 


To  fix  the 
subject  in 
the  mind, 
short  hours 
and  brief 
lessons  were 
assigned, 


extent  to  which  their  system  of  pedagogy  was  from  the 
first  developed  seems  most  remarkable.  No  one  could 
become  a  teacher  in  the  lower  colleges  who  had  not 
passed  through  the  philosophical  course  and  exhibited  a 
singular  degree  of  talent,  while  the  professors  in  the 
universities  had  to  complete  the  theological  course  of 
six  years. 

The  ‘Praelectio. 1  —  Although  Jesuits  have  written  a 
number  of  textbooks,  instruction  in  the  colleges,  higher 
and  lower,  was  generally  imparted  by  the  teacher  orally, 
and  memorized  in  the  case  of  the  pupils  in  the  second¬ 
ary  work,  or  taken  down  in  lecture  notes  by  those  in 
the  universities.  The  form  of  instruction  was  the  so- 
called  prcelectio,  which,  in  the  subjects  of  the  lower  col¬ 
leges,  meant  an  explanation  of  the  passage  being 
studied,  or  lectures  upon  the  topic  under  consideration, 
in  the  case  of  the  universities.  This  method  of  presenta¬ 
tion  consisted  in  giving :  first,  the  general  meaning  of 
the  whole  passage  or  proposition  ;  then,  a  more  detailed 
explanation  of  the  construction  or  the  phraseology ; 
next,  similar  thoughts  or  expressions  in  the  works  of 
other  poets,  historians,  or  philosophers ;  fourthly,  infor¬ 
mational  comment  upon  the  history,  geography,  and 
manners  and  customs,  or  other  1  erudition  ’  concerning 
the  passage ;  then  a  study  of  the  rhetorical  figures,  and 
of  the  propriety  and  rhythm  of  the  words ;  and  finally, 
the  moral  lesson  to  be  drawn  from  the  passage. 

Tendency  toward  Memorizing.  — Such  a  method  as  this 
obviously  implied  an  exceedingly  careful  preparation  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  a  reliance  almost  entirely 
upon  memory  by  the  student.  In  fact,  the  greatest 
stress  was,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  Jesuit  ideals, 
placed  upon  memorizing,  even  to  the  exclusion  of  rea¬ 
soning.  To  fix  the  subjects  firmly  in  the  mind,  short 
hours,  few  subjects,  and  brief  lessons  were  found  neces¬ 
sary.  The  lower  colleges  had  a  session  of  two  hours 
and  a  half  in  the  morning  and  two  in  the  afternoon,  and 
often  a  day’s  work  was  limited  to  three  or  four  lines  of 
a  Latin  author  and  was  practically  one  continuous  reci- 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS  217 

tation.  For  this  reason,  too,  the  Ratio  Studiorum  in¬ 
sists:  pluribus  diebus  fere  singula  prcecepta  inculcanda 
sunt  ( ‘usually  each  rule  must  be  impressed  for  several 
days’).  They  hoped  by  means  of  such  brief  assign¬ 
ments  to  keep  the  health  of  both  master  and  pupil  at  its 
maximum,  and  produce  a  concentration  of  attention. 
Loyola  himself,  in  his  endeavor  to  make  up  for  lost  time 
in  his  education,  had  grasped  at  too  many  subjects. 
Suffering  thereby  both  in  health  and  achievement,  from 
the  first  he  decided  to  limit  the  number  of  subjects  and 
the  length  of  the  lessons  in  the  Jesuit  schools,  and  to 
organize  the  work  with  an  eye  to  economy  of  effort. 

Reviews.  —  Likewise,  in  the  system  of  the  Jesuits,  re¬ 
views  were  always  systematic  and  frequent,  and  the 
motto  of  the  Jesuit  method  was  repetitio  mater  studiorum 
(‘  repetition  is  the  mother  of  studies  ’).  Each  day  began 
with  a  review  of  the  preceding  day’s  work  and  closed 
with  a  review  of  the  work  just  accomplished.  Each 
week  ended  with  a  repetition  of  all  that  had  been  cov¬ 
ered  in  that  time.  The  last  month  of  every  year  re¬ 
viewed  the  course  of  the  year,  except  in  the  three  lowest 
classes,  where  the  whole  last  half  of  the  year  was  a 
repetition  of  the  first  half.1  The  students  also  obtained 
a  complete  review  of  the  secondary  course  after  their 
philosophical  training  by  teaching  in  the  studia  infenora , 
and  the  work  in  philosophy  and  theology  was  reviewed 
during  the  last  two  years  of  the  theological  course. 

Emulation  as  a  Stimulus  to  Interest.  —  So,  while  the 
curriculum  of  the  Jesuit  colleges  was  not  very  broad  in 
scope,  it  was  most  thorough  and  systematic.  However, 
because  of  the  emphasis  upon  memorizing,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  account  for  the  amount  of  interest  displayed 
by  the  pupils  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  pleasantness  of  their 
schools,  were  it  not  for  some  other  features  of  their 
methods  whereby  an  indirect  interest  is  aroused.  The 
chief  element  in  this  borrowed  interest  comes  from  emu- 


and  regular 
reviews  were 
held  each 
day,  week, 
month,  and 
year. 


1  The  brightest  boys  could,  on  that  account,  be  advanced  every  half- 
year  and  could  accomplish  the  work  of  all  three  grades  in  eighteen  months. 


21 8 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


'  Decuri- 
ones,’ 

‘  aemuli/ 
‘disputa- 
tiones,’  '  con- 
certatio,’  and 
1  academiae,’ 
as  the  means 
of  obtaining 
interest. 


Corporal 
punishment 
was  infre¬ 
quent,  and 
when  in- 


lation.  As  Ribadeneira,  the  friend  and  biographer  of 
Loyola,  tells  us :  — 

“  Many  means  are  devised,  and  exercises  employed,  to  stimulate 
the  minds  of  the  young,  —  assiduous  disputation,  various  trials  of 
genius,  prizes  offered  for  excellence  in  talent  and  industry.  These 
prerogatives  and  testimonies  of  virtue  vehemently  arouse  the  mind 
of  the  students,  awake  them  even  when  sleeping,  and  when  they  are 
aroused  and  running  on  with  a  good  will,  impel  them  and  spur  them 
on  faster.” 1 

Among  the  devices  used  to  promote  this  rivalry  was 
the  appointment  of  the  most  able  and  responsible  pupils 
as  decuriones.  These  student  officers,  after  reciting  the 
lesson  themselves  to  the  teacher,  heard  the  others  in 
groups  known  as  decurice  (‘squads’).  Besides  this 
stimulus,  the  pupils  were  arranged  in  pairs  as  cemnli 
(‘rivals  ’),  whose  business  it  was  to  check  on  the  conduct 
and  studies  of  each  other,  and  thus  keep  up  their  interest 
and  energy.  In  addition  to  this  constant  rivalry  of 
individuals,  public  disputationes  between  two  sides  were 
engaged  in  each  week.  The  sides  were  sometimes 
known  as  ‘  Rome  ’  and  ‘  Carthage,’  and  much  zest  was 
shown  in  the  work.  From  the  lowest  classes  upward 
the  form  of  ‘  disputation’  called  concertatio  was  employed. 
This  consisted  in  a  debate  upon  the  grammatical,  rhe¬ 
torical,  poetical,  and  historical  features  of  the  lesson. 
Usually  the  prefects  and  teachers  served  as  judges,  and 
prizes  and  half  holidays  were  awarded  the  victorious  side 
or  any  one  who  especially  distinguished  himself.  Simi¬ 
larly,  discussions  of  a  higher  type  upon  humanistic,  dia¬ 
lectic,  and  philosophical  subjects  were  conducted  by  the 
more  brilliant  students  in  voluntary  societies  known  as 
academics.  Poems,  speeches,  dialogues,  and  declama¬ 
tions  all  formed  part  of  the  program,  and  membership 
in  these  associations  was  a  much  coveted  honor. 

Infrequency  of  Corporal  Punishment.  —  In  this  way, 
despite  the  ever  present  authority  and  the  tremendous 
memory  grind,  the  Jesuit  schools  had  little  occasion  to 
appeal  to  corporal  punishment  or  severe  discipline. 

1  Bollandists,  July,  tome  VII,  nn.  376-377. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


219 


They  showed  a  decided  advance  over  the  harshness  of 
their  times.  The  pupils  even  in  the  early  days  were 
led  and  not  driven,  and  the  Jesuits  were  masters  of 
kindness  and  tact.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  Bader, 
the  Provincial  of  Upper  Germany,  said :  — 

“  Let  not  the  Prefects  consider  their  authority  to  consist  in  this, 
that  the  students  are  on  hand  in  obedience  to  their  nod,  their  every 
word,  or  their  very  look ;  but  in  this,  that  the  boys  love  them,  ap¬ 
proach  them  with  confidence,  and  make  their  difficulties  known.  .  .  . 
The  pupils  should  be  led  to  see  that  penalties  are  necessary  and  are 
prompted  by  affection ;  and  let  it  be  the  most  grievous  rebuke  or 
penalty  for  them  to  know  that  they  have  offended  the  Prefect.” 

Occasionally  a  corrector ,  usually  from  outside  the  or¬ 
der,  had  to  be  engaged  for  some  of  the  more  refractory 
pupils,  but  even  in  that  case  punishment  was  never  in¬ 
flicted  for  poor  standing  in  studies,  but  only  as  a  check 
upon  bad  conduct. 

Estimate  of  the  Jesuit  Schools. — The  Jesuit  educa¬ 
tion,  then,  seems  to  have  been  in  advance  of  that  in 
most  schools  at  the  time  of  its  foundation.  It  had  the 
advantage  of  being  organized  upon  a  systematic  and 
thorough  basis,  and  was  administered  by  a  set  of  splen¬ 
didly  trained  teachers  through  the  best  methods  that 
were  known  in  that  day.  The  schools  were  interesting 
and  pleasant,  and  were  open  without  money  and  without 
price  to  all  who  had  the  ability  and  desire  for  that  type 
of  education.  The  Jesuits,  too,  were  devoted  to  their 
duty,  and  were  wedded  to  their  ideals  of  self-denial, 
poverty,  obedience,  and  fealty  to  the  pope.  They  were 
indefatigable  in  their  efforts  to  advance  mankind  spirit¬ 
ually  and  intellectually,  and  to  promote  the  cause  of 
Catholicism. 

The  chief  criticism  that  might  be  made  of  their 
schools  rests  in  their  insistence  upon  absolute  authority 
and  the  consequent  opposition  to  individuality.  The 
Jesuits  consistently  observed  the  caution  of  the  Ratio 
Studiorum :  — 

u  Also  in  things  which  contain  no  danger  for  creed  and  faith, 
nobody  shall  introduce  new  questions  on  any  important  topic,  nor 


flicted,  it  was 
by  some  one 
outside  the 
order,  and 
only  as  a 
check  upon 
bad  conduct. 


The  Jesuit 
education 
was  syste¬ 
matic  and 
thorough, 
the  teachers 
were  well 
trained, 
the  schools 
were  interest¬ 
ing  and 
pleasant,  and 
the  Jesuits 
were  devoted 
to  duty. 


220 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


But  the 
Jesuits  held 
to  authority, 
memorizing, 
rivalry,  pas¬ 
sivity,  and 
opposition  to 
investigation. 


The  schools 
grew  tremen¬ 
dously  and 
spread 
throughout 
the  world, 
and  the 
Jesuits 
trained  most 
of  the  great 
minds  of  the 
period. 


an  opinion,  without  sufficient  authority  or  without  permission  of  his 
superiors  ;  nor  shall  any  one  teach  anything  against  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church  Fathers  and  the  commonly  accepted  system  of  school 
doctrines  ;  but  everybody  shall  follow  the  approved  teachers  and 
the  doctrines  accepted  and  taught  in  Catholic  academies.” 

With  such  an  ideal,  it  would  be  impossible  to  develop 
education  in  keeping  with  the  varying  spirit  and  de¬ 
mands  of  the  times,  and  if  progress  is  held  to  be  in  any 
measure  dependent  upon  the  toleration  of  individual¬ 
ism,  the  Jesuit  system  of  courses,  subjects,  and  methods 
would  seem  to  have  been  too  uniform  and  fixed.  It  de¬ 
pended  very  largely  upon  memory  and  appeal  to  inter¬ 
est  through  a  system  of  rivalry,  honors,  and  rewards. 
It  cultivated  a  passive  and  reproductive  attitude  in  the 
pupil,  and,  while  there  were  always  some  scientists  and 
thinkers  among  the  Jesuits,  their  course  of  study  logi¬ 
cally  tended  to  discourage  investigation  and  independence. 
The  results  of  such  an  education  are  likely  to  incline 
toward  the  stereotyped  and  mechanical. 

Effects  of  the  Jesuit  Education.  —  Nevertheless,  the 
Jesuits  furnished  the  most  effective  education  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  sixteenth,  the  entire  seventeenth,  and 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth,  centuries.  The  growth 
of  their  schools  was  phenomenal.  When  Loyola  died, 
although  he  had  at  first  thought  of  limiting  the  order 
to  sixty  members,  there  were  already  one  hundred 
colleges,  and  the  Jesuit  educators  had  penetrated  Ire¬ 
land,  Scotland,  Hindustan,  Japan,  China,  and  Abyssinia, 
as  well  as  Europe.  Under  Acquaviva  the  number  of 
colleges  and  universities  had  grown  to  be  three  hundred 
and  seventy-two,  and  a  century  and  a  half  after  the 
death  of  Loyola,  there  were  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  institutions  spread  throughout  the  world.  The 
lowest  number  of  students  in  attendance  at  any  of  these 
colleges  during  the  seventeenth  century  was  about  three 
hundred,  and  in  several  of  the  larger  centers  there 
were  between  one  and  two  thousand.  Paris  had  nearly 
fourteen  thousand  at  the  fourteen  colleges  within  its 
borders,  and  the  college  at  Clermont  is  said  to  have  run 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


221 


up  to  three  thousand.  At  a  modest  estimate,  there 
must  have  been  some  two  hundred  thousand  students  in 
the  Jesuit  colleges,  when  the  education  of  the  order  was 
at  its  height.  Hence  it  came  about  that  the  Jesuits 
trained  most  of  the  great  minds  of  the  times,  Protestant 
as  well  as  Catholic.  The  graduates  of  their  schools 
seem  to  have  become  prominent  in  every  important 
activity  of  life.  Nearly  three  thousand  noted  authors  in 
all  countries,  including  such  men  as  Tasso,  Calderon, 
Corneille,  Moliere,  Bossuet,  and  Diderot,  were  pupils  of 
the  Jesuits  ;  and  they  everywhere  trained  men  of  affairs, 
like  the  noted  general  and  statesman,  Don  Juan  of 
Austria,  General  Tilly,  Cardinal  Richelieu,  and  the  Due 
de  Luxembourg,  marshal  of  France. 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  the 
ideals  and  content  of  education  were  greatly  changed, 
and  the  Jesuits  failed  to  change  their  course  so  as  to 
meet  the  new  conditions.  As  a  result,  the  training,  being 
anachronistic,  came  to  lack  efficiency.  Moreover,  the 
Jesuits  themselves,  who  had  at  first  rejected  all  prefer¬ 
ment  or  influence  in  the  Church  or  State,  had  become 
powerful  and  ambitious.  They  deteriorated  into  a  great 
political  machine,  and  interpreted  their  abbreviated  motto, 
A.  M.  D.  G.,  ad  maiorem  Dei gloriam  (‘  for  the  greater 
glory  of  God’),  as  meaning  the  advancement  of  the 
Church  and  the  interests  of  their  own  order.  While  it  is 
not  likely  that  they  went  so  far  as  always  to  claim  that 
“the  end  justifies  the  means,”  or  indulged  systematically 
in  the  other  forms  of  casuistry  of  which  they  have  been 
accused,  their  ethical  ideals  certainly  became  less  strict. 
They  seem  to  have  been  indulgent  toward  many  forms 
of  moral  abuse  when  committed  in  the  interest  of  the 
order,  and  they  quarreled  frequently  and  arbitrarily 
with  different  bishops,  governments,  and  universities, 
and  with  the  Dominicans  and  other  monastic  orders. 
Finally,  after  they  had  been  banished  from  nearly  every 
country  of  Europe,  in  1773  the  pope  himself,  Clement 
XIV,  “recognizing  that  the  members  of  this  society 
have  not  a  little  troubled  the  Christian  commonwealth, 


But  they 
failed  to 
change  the 
content  of 
education 
in  keeping 
with  the 
times,  and 
came  to  lack 
efficiency, 
and  deteri¬ 
orated  into 
a  political 
machine. 


222 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Subsequent 
orders  were 
influenced 
to  make  edu¬ 
cation  part 
of  their 
work. 


The  Orato- 
rians  became 
a  teaching 
order  in 
France  in 
1611. 


and  that  for  the  welfare  of  Christendom,  it  were  better 
that  the  order  should  disappear,”  dissolved  the  Society 
of  Jesus.  The  individual  members  became  missionaries 
or  settled  down  individually  as  educators  in  the  various 
dioceses.  Forty  years  later  the  order  was  restored  by 
Pius  VII,  but,  owing  to  the  development  of  educational 
ideals  and  organization,  their  work  has  never  since  be¬ 
come  relatively  as  effective  or  held  as  important  a  place 
in  education. 

One  important  result  of  the  Jesuit  interest  in  educa¬ 
tion  and  of  their  care  in  crystallizing  their  ideas  in  in¬ 
stitutions  is  the  effect  they  have  had  upon  subsequent 
orders  in  making  education  an  integral  part  of  their 
work.  The  Dominicans,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  the  Fran¬ 
ciscans,  had  given  some  attention  to  education,  but  they 
had  sought  to  make  their  influence  felt  through  the 
existing  schools  and  universities,  and  had  not  spread 
institutions  of  their  own  throughout  the  world.  But 
after  the  foundation  of  the  Jesuits,  education  of  the 
diffusive  sort  became  the  rule  with  the  orders,  and  was 
adopted  by  the  Oratorians,  Jansenists,  Piarists,  Christian 
Brothers,  the  Protestant  Pietists,  and  many  other  reli¬ 
gious  societies. 

The  Establishment  and  Results  of  the  Oratorian  Schools. 

—  However,  some  of  the  later  teaching  orders  organized 
within  the  Catholic  Church  were  quite  opposed  in  their 
education  to  the  Jesuit  principles  of  absolute  authority 
and  memorizing.  Of  these  the  earliest  was  the  Oratory 
of  Jesus,  which  held  to  the  rationalistic  philosophy  of 
Descartes,  and  advocated  the  primacy  of  reason  rather 
than  memory.  It  had  been  started  in  Italy  1  during  the 
sixteenth  century  as  a  monastic  order,  though  with  no 
vows  beyond  those  of  the  secular  priesthood,  but  in 
1611  an  independent  organization  was,  through  Pierre 
(later  Cardinal)  de  Berulle,  effected  in  France,  where  it 
became  a  teaching  order.  Its  members  established  a 


1  The  founder  was  St.  Philip  Neri.  The  order  took  on  a  new  life 
in  England  during  the  nineteenth  century  through  (Cardinal)  John  Henry 
Newman. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


223 


set  of  secondary  schools,  and  devoted  themselves  to  the 
training  of  parish  priests.  The  Oratoricins ,  therefore, 
departed  from  the  somewhat  mechanical  and  ostentatious 
training  of  the  Jesuits,  and  were  much  nearer  the  deeper 
education  of  the  Port  Royalists,  to  whom  they  became 
very  friendly.  Their  course  permitted  a  greater  liberty 
and  latitude  on  the  theological  side  than  did  that  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  they  emphasized  the  vernacular,  modern 
,  languages,  history,  geography,  natural  sciences,  and 
philosophy.  In  consequence  of  the  interest  aroused  in 
this  subject  matter,  the  Oratorians  found  little  need  in 
their  instruction  of  resorting  to  corporal  punishment, 
and  believed  that  praise,  threats,  and  rewards  furnished 
sufficient  means  of  discipline. 

While  the  Oratorians  naturally  came  under  the  suspi¬ 
cion  of  the  Jesuits  and  others  who  held  to  authority  and 
the  traditional  curriculum,  they  were,  from  the  first, 
very  successful  in  their  educational  work.  Almost 
immediately  they  had  a  large  number  of  schools  under 
their  control,  including  the  well-known  college  at  Juilly, 
founded  in  1638.  Many  noted  teachers  also  came  from 
this  organization.  Such  were  Lamy,  who  published  a 
Treatise  on  the  Sciences  in  1683,  Thomassin,  who,  dur¬ 
ing  the  years  1681-1690,  produced  a  series  of  Methods 
for  the  study  of  languages,  literature,  and  philosophy. 
Among  other  members  of  the  order  were  Malebranche, 
Mascaron,  Massillon,  Lecointe,  and  Lelong.  When  the 
Jesuits  were  disbanded  in  1773,  the  Oratorians  obtained 
charge  of  secondary  education  in  France,  and  while 
they  were  themselves  dissolved  later,  they  were  reor¬ 
ganized  in  1852,  and  have  always  been  of  some  impor¬ 
tance  as  an  educational  order. 

The  Jansenists  and  Their  Doctrines. — Another  teach¬ 
ing  congregation  within  the  Church,  much  more  opposed 
to  the  principles  of  the  Jesuits,  was  that  known  as  the 
Jansenists ,  or  Ge?itlemen  of  Port  Royal.  The  doctrines 
of  this  order  were  formulated  in  1621  by  Cornelius  Jan- 
sen  (1585-1638),  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Louvain 
and  afterward  Bishop  of  Ypres,  but  were  more  sedu- 


They  empha¬ 
sized  the  ver¬ 
nacular, 
modern  lan¬ 
guages, 
history, 
geography, 
natural 
sciences,  and 
philosophy. 


They  had  a 
number  of 
schools 
under  their 
control,  and 
educated 
many  noted 
teachers. 


224 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Jansen- 
ists  adopted 
the  philos¬ 
ophy  of  Des¬ 
cartes,  but 
held  to  the 
natural  cor¬ 
ruption  of 
humanity. 


They,  there¬ 
fore,  founded 
‘  little 

schools  ’  at 
Port  Royal 
and  else¬ 
where,  to 
save  as  many 
children  as 
possible. 


lously  propagated  throughout  France  by  his  friend,  Jean 
Duvergier  de  Hauranne  (1581-1643),  more  often  called 
by  the  name  of  his  monastery,  ‘  Saint-Cyran.’  In  France, 
the  Cistercian  convent  of  Port  Royal  des  Champs  at 
Chevreuse  near  Versailles  became  known  as  the  center 
of  Jansenism.1  While  this  order  was  bitterly  condemned 
by  the  Jesuits  and  occasionally  pronounced  against  by 
various  popes,  the  members  persisted  in  calling  them¬ 
selves  Catholics  and  for  about  a  century  succeeded  in 
doing  their  work  within  the  Church.  They  were  opposed, 
however,  to  the  prevailing  doctrines  of  penance  and 
confession,  and,  appealing,  as  Luther  had,  to  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  and  St.  Augustine,  they  professed  to  be  bringing 
the  Church  back  to  its  original  principles.  Like  the 
Oratorians,  they  had  adopted  the  philosophy  of  Descartes 
and  held  to  the  development  of  reason.  They  were 
also  not  unlike  Calvin  in  denying  the  freedom  of  the 
will  and  claiming  that  only  a  few  can  be  saved.  Hu¬ 
manity  was  regarded  by  them  as  naturally  corrupt,  ex¬ 
cept  as  it  is  properly  watched  and  guided.  Evil,  they 
felt,  could  be  eliminated  only  by  moral  and  religious, 
not  to  say  ascetic,  surroundings. 

The  *  Little  Schools  ’  of  the  Port  Royalists.  —  Because 
of  this  harsh  and  rather  pessimistic  belief,  they  desired 
to  increase  the  number  of  the  elect  by  removing  what 
few  children  they  could  from  the  temptations  of  the 
world  and  suitably  preparing  them  to  resist  the  assaults 
of  the  devil.  In  1643  they  started  a  school  on  this  basis 
in  the  convent  at  Port  Royal,  which  had  been  vacated 
by  the  nuns,  and  similar  institutions  quickly  sprang  up 
in  the  vicinity  and  then  spread  through  Paris.  With 
the  idea  of  carrying  out  their  purpose  of  careful  over¬ 
sight,  these  schools  usually  took  only  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  pupils,  and  each  master  had  under  him  five  or  six 
boys  whom  he  never  allowed  out  of  his  immediate  su- 

1  This  was  partly  due  to  the  influence  of  its  abbess,  Mere  Angelique, 
who  was  a  sister  of  Antoine  Arnauld,  professor  of  theology  at  the  Sor- 
bonne  and  an  ardent  Jansenist,  and  partly  to  Saint-Cyran  himself,  who  was 
spiritual  adviser  to  the  Cistercian  nuns  of  Port  Royal. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


225 


pervision  day  or  night.1  For  this  reason,  and  in  order 
that  they  might  not  seem  to  be  competing  with  the  uni¬ 
versities,  as  the  Jesuits  were,  the  Port  Royalists  called 
their  institutions  petites  tcoles  (‘  little  schools  ’).  They 
took  in  children  at  nine  or  ten,  before  they  could  be 
seriously  contaminated,  and  usually  kept  them  through 
the  impressionable  period  of  adolescence.  From  the 
beginning,  however,  Saint-Cyran  made  it  understood : 

“  If  the  children  turned  out  intractable  and  unwilling  to  submit 
to  the  discipline  under  which  I  wished  them  to  live  in  this  house,  it 
should  be  in  my  power  to  dismiss  them  without  those  from  whom  I 
had  received  them  bearing  me  any  ill-will  for  it.” 

The  Port  Royal  Curriculum  and  Texts.  —  Since  the 
Port  Royalists  held  that  character  was  of  more  impor¬ 
tance  than  knowledge,  and  reason  was  to  be  developed 
rather  than  memory,  these  ‘  little  schools  ’  sought  to 
impart  an  education  that  should  be  sound  and  lasting 
rather  than  brilliant  and  superficial.  Unlike  the  Jesuits 
and  other  educators  of  the  times,  they  did  not  start  the 
children  with  Latin,  but  with  the  vernacular,  since  this 
was  within  their  comprehension.  As,  however,  French 
contained  no  literature  suitable  to  pupils  of  an  early  age, 
translations  of  Latin  works,  after  proper  modification 
and  editing,  were  put  in  the  hands  of  the  children. 
The  pupils  read  versions  of  the  Fables  of  Phaedrus,  the 
Comedies  of  Terence,  and  the  Letters  of  Cicero,  and  thus 
obtained  a  pleasant  introduction  to  literature.  As  soon 
as  they  possessed  a  feeling  for  good  works  and  desired 
to  read  them,  they  began  the  study  of  Latin  through  a 
minimum  grammar  written  in  French,  and  soon  took 
up  the  Latin  authors  themselves,  rendering  them  into 
the  vernacular.  Greek  literature  was  treated  in  similar 
fashion.  In  order  that  the  reason  might  be  trained,  the 
older  pupils  were  also  taught  logic  and  geometry.  The 
course  of  study,  however,  was  mostly  literary,  and  had 

1  In  discussing  the  origin  of  the  first  ‘  little  school,’  Saint-Cyran  tells 
us :  “I  only  intended  to  build  it  for  six  children,  whom  I  would  have 
chosen  throughout  the  city  of  Paris,  as  it  might  please  God  that  I  should 
meet  with  them.” 

Q 


Reason, 
rather  than 
memory,  was 
developed ; 
they  began 
with  the  ver¬ 
nacular, 
and  taught 
Latin  and 
Greek 
through  the 
medium  of 
French,  and 
used  logic 
and  geometry 
to  train  the 
reason. 


226 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Port 
Royal  Gram¬ 
mar,  the  Port 
Royal  Logic , 
and  the 
Elements  of 
Geometry. 


Reading  was 
taught  pho¬ 
netically. 


no  regard  for  science  or  original  investigation.  It  paid 
little  attention  to  physical  training.  Port  Royal  sought 
to  present  the  education  of  the  past  most  effectively,  but 
did  not  see  beyond  it.  The  textbooks  of  the  ‘  little 
schools  ’  seem  to  have  been  largely  written  by  Antoine 
Arnauld  (1612-1694).1  The  Port  Royal  Grammar  was 
produced  by  him  with  the  aid  of  Claude  Lancelot  (1615- 
1695),  while  Pierre  Nicole  (1625-1695)  collaborated  with 
him  on  the  Port  Royal  Logic ,  which  was  for  the  most 
part  a  polemic  in  favor  of  Descartes’  principles  against 
the  scholastic  type  of  philosophy.  He  also  wrote  an 
Elements  of  Geometry ,  which  so  pleased  Blaise  Pascal 
(1623-1662)  that  he  abandoned  a  similar  work  of  his 
own. 

The  Phonetic  Method,  the  Neglect  of  Emulation,  and 
the  Spirit  of  Piety.  —  The  methods  of  the  Port  Royal 
schools  introduced  innovations  as  striking  as  their  cur¬ 
riculum.  They  departed  from  the  usual  plan  of  teach¬ 
ing  their  pupils  to  read  by  means  of  the  alphabet  and 
spelling,  and  declared  :  — 

“It  seems,  then,  that  the  most  natural  way  would  be,  that  those 
who  are  teaching  to  read  should,  at  first,  only  teach  the  children  to 
know  their  letters  by  their  value  in  pronunciation ;  and  that  thus,  to 
teach  to  read  in  Latin,  for  example,  they  should  give  the  same  name 
e  to  simple  e,  ae ,  and  oe,  because  they  are  pronounced  in  the  same 
way ;  and  the  same  to  i  and  y ;  and  also  to  0  and  au,  as  they  are 
now  pronounced  in  France.  Let  the  consonants  also  only  be  named 
by  their  natural  sound,  simply  adding  e  mute,  which  is  necessary  in 
order  to  pronounce  them.  Let  those  which  have  several  sounds,  as 
c ,  g,  t,  and  s,  be  named  by  the  most  natural  and  usual  sound.  And 
then  they  would  be  taught  to  pronounce  separately,  and  without 
spelling,  the  syllables,  ce ,  ci,gey  tia,tie ,  and  tii.  These  are  the  most 
general  observations  on  this  new  method  of  teaching  to  read.” 

This  idea  had  been  originated  by  Pascal  and  intro¬ 
duced  at  Port  Royal  through  his  younger  sister,  Jacque¬ 
line,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  girls  there.  It  was  included 
by  Arnauld  and  Lancelot  in  their  grammar,  from  which 
the  quotation  above  is  taken. 

Quite  as  revolutionary  as  this  phonetic  method  in 

1  See  footnote  on  p.  224. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


227 


reading  was  the  refusal  of  the  Port  Royalists  to  permit 
the  use  of  emulation  and  prizes  in  their  schools.  They 
rightly  claimed  that  such  an  interest  is  extrinsic,  and 
that  the  only  true  rival  of  any  pupil  is  his  own  higher 
self,  but  their  exclusion  of  rivalry  resulted,  on  the  whole, 
in  indifference,  and  lagging  attention.  They  were  never 
able  to  secure  the  energy,  earnestness,  and  pleasing 
environment  of  the  Jesuit  colleges.  They  did,  however, 
succeed  in  inculcating  a  general  spirit  of  piety  without 
the  formal  teaching  of  either  doctrine  or  morals.  They 
held  that  piety  comes  rather  through  atmosphere  and 
surroundings  than  by  direct  instruction.  Saint-Cyran 
thought  no  pains  too  great  to  secure  pious  and  fitting 
teachers,  and  when  obtained,  he  enjoined  them  “to 
speak  little,  put  up  with  much,  pray  still  more.” 

The  Closing  of  the  ‘Little  Schools. ’ —  The  ‘little 
schools  ’  of  the  Port  Royalists  were  allowed  to  exist  but 
for  a  brief  while.  The  first  one  was  not  opened  until  1643, 
and  by  1661  they  were  all  closed  by  the  order  of  Louis 
XIV  through  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits.1  But  this 
victory  of  the  Jesuits  cost  them  more  dearly  than  any 
defeat  they  ever  sustained.  Not  only  did  it  lose  them 
sympathy,  but  it  gave  the  Jansenists  occasion  and  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  issue  tracts  against  Jesuitism  that  have  given 
it  unpleasant  notoriety  ever  since.  The  Lettres  Provin¬ 
ciates  (‘  Provincial  Letters  ’)  and  the  Pensees  (‘  Thoughts  ’) 
of  Pascal  have  proved  the  most  terrible  arraignment 
the  Jesuits  have  ever  received. 

While  the  Gentlemen  of  Port  Royal  were  thus  forced 
to  cease  their  formal  work  as  schoolmasters,  they  be¬ 
came  educators  in  a  larger  sense,  and  produced  a  great 
variety  of  writings  upon  their  system  of  thought  and 
training.  Besides  the  textbooks  already  mentioned, 
Arnauld  published  the  Regulation  of  Studies  in  the 
Humanities ,  which  describes  the  literary  instruction  of 
the  Port  Royalists  after  some  modification  as  the  result 
of  experience.  Lancelot  also  published  his  Methods  for 

1  See  Cadet,  Port  Royal  Education ,  pp.  58  ff.,  for  a  discussion  of  the 
jealousy  of  the  Jesuits. 


No  rivalry 
was  per¬ 
mitted,  and 
the  schools 
lacked  the 
earnestness 
and  pleasant¬ 
ness  of  the 
Jesuit 
colleges. 

Piety  was 
cultivated 
without  be¬ 
ing  formally 
taught. 


The  Jesuits 
persuaded 
Louis  XIV  to 
close  the 
Port  Royalist 
schools,  and 
thereby 
fell  into  great 
notoriety. 


The  Port 
Royalists 
then  became 
educators  in 
a  wider  sense, 
and  wrote 
many  trea¬ 
tises  upon 
education. 


228 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Rollin  and 
his  Treatise 
on  Studies. 


*  Catechism  * 
schools,  the 
Piarists,  and 
the  Brethren 
of  St.  Charles. 


the  study  of  language,  literature,  and  philosophy;  and 
Nicole,  by  whose  works  Madame  de  Sevigne  was  so 
largely  influenced,  contributed  The  Education  of  a 
Prince.  Varet  wrote  a  work  on  Christian  Education. 
Coustel  produced  his  Rules  for  the  Education  of  Chil- 
dreny  and  many  other  Jansenists  of  the  time  published 
treatises  embodying  the  Port  Royal  education.  The 
Jansenistic  principles  were  also  applied  to  the  education 
of  women  by  Jacqueline  Pascal ,  who  had  written  out 
The  Regulations  for  the  Girls ’  School  at  Port  Royal. 
Later  on  Charles  Rollin  (1661-1741),  who  had  twice 
been  rector  of  a  the  University  of  Paris,  summarized  in 
his  Traits  des  Etudes  Treatise  on  Studies’)  the  reforms 
that  had  been  wrought  in  the  university  and  the  lower 
schools  through  replacing  the  formal  and  dogmatic  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  Jesuits  with  the  Jansenistic  methods  and 
rational  philosophy.  Thus,  although  their  schools  had 
to  be  abandoned,  the  Port  Royalists  continued  to  teach 
by  means  of  messages  to  the  people  at  large,  and  their 
new  ideas  upon  classical  and  literary  education  have 
affected  France  and  many  other  countries  ever  since 
that  time. 

La  Salle  and  the  Christian  Brethren.  —  The  Jansenists 
and  Oratorians  were,  however,  like  the  Jesuits,  engrossed 
with  secondary  and  higher  education,  and  gave  little 
heed  to  the  education  of  all  the  people  in  the  rudiments. 
The  Protestants,  it  has  been  seen,  began  early  to  be 
interested  in  universal  elementary  education,  and  during 
the  seventeenth  century  many  Protestant  countries  es¬ 
tablished  systems  of  elementary  schools.1  But  not  much 
was  undertaken  by  the  Catholics  until  toward  the  close 
of  the  century,  although  a  few  attempts  were  made  be¬ 
fore  this.  There  were  ‘  catechism  ’  schools  founded  at 
the  churches;  the  Council  of  Trent  indorsed  them,  and 
the  great  Jesuit,  Canisius,  wrote  a  manual  for  their 
especial  use.  More  noteworthy  was  the  organization 
started  by  the  order  known  as  Patres  Piarum  Scholarum 
(‘  Fathers  of  the  Pious  Schools’),  or  Piarists ,  which  was 

1  See  pp.  197-200. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


229 


founded  at  Rome  in  1617  by  Jose  Calasanzio,  and 
authorized  by  Pope  Gregory  XV  in  1621,  for  affording 
a  public  education  in  religion  and  the  rudiments ;  and 
that  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Brethren  of  St.  Charles , 
organized  at  Lyons  in  1666  by  Charles  Demia  for  the 
elementary  instruction  of  poor  children.  But,  upon  the 
whole,  little  advance  was  made.  The  few  elementary 
schools  that  had  come  into  existence  were  weakened  by 
quarrels  of  the  authorities,  the  teachers  were  often  with¬ 
out  intellect  or  moral  fitness,  and  the  curriculum  was  not 
clearly  distinguished  from  that  of  the  secondary  schools. 
However,  in  1684 ,  Jean  Baptiste  de  la  Salle  (165 1-1719), 
probably  influenced  somewhat  by  the  example  of  Demia, 
founded  the  Institute  of  the  Brethre7i  of  the  Christian 
Schools}  This  order  was  destined,  with  little  or  no 
resources,  to  do  almost  as  large  a  work  for  elementary 
education  in  France  and  other  Catholic  countries  as  the 
Jesuits  did  for  secondary  training.  But  owing  to  the 
determined  opposition  of  the  clergy,  and  the  teachers  of 
the  schools  already  established,  the  Christian  Brethren 
were  not  recognized  by  the  pope  until  nearly  forty  years 
after  their  organization. 

The  Religious  and  Repressive  Aim  of  La  Salle.  —  La 

Salle  was  a  priest  with  a  delicate  constitution,  but  an 
almost  superhuman  energy  and  consecration.1 2  He  had 
secured  his  own  education  only  by  a  most  heroic  strug¬ 
gle,  and  turned  his  attention  to  the  instruction  of  the 
poor  with  unabated  zeal.  He  became  intensely  devout 
and  ascetic,  and  made  his  life  one  of  constant  self-sacri¬ 
fice  and  devotion  to  the  education  of  the  lowly.  The 
Rule  of  his  society  declared:  — 

“The  spirit  of  the  Institute  consists  in  a  burning  zeal  for  the 
instruction  of  children,  that  they  may  be  brought  up  in  the  fear  and 


La  Salle 
founded  the 
Christian 
Brethren  to 
conduct  ele¬ 
mentary 
schools. 


La  Salle  was 
devout  and 
ascetic, 


1  “  For  a  name  they  chose  that  of  *  Freres  des  Ecoles  Chretiennes,’ 
Brothers  of  Christian  Schools,  which  was  probably  soon  abbreviated  into 
the  well-known  title  of  ‘  Freres  Chretiens,’  or  Christian  Brothers,  so  famil¬ 
iar  to  us.”  See  Wilson,  The  Christian  Brothers ,  Chap.  VII. 

2  English  readers  will  find  an  interesting  and  sympathetic  account 
of  La  Salle’s  life  in  Wilson,  op.  cit .,  Chaps.  II— III,  VI-IX,  and  XII- 
XVII. 


230 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  his 
character 
appears  in 
the  religious 
and  repres¬ 
sive  nature 
of  his 
schools. 


The  type  of 
school  and 
seminary  at 
Rheims 
spread  to 
Paris  and 
elsewhere. 


Technical 
school  at 
St.  Yon. 


love  of  God,  and  led  to  preserve  their  innocence  where  they  have 
not  already  lost  it ;  to  keep  them  from  sin,  and  to  instil  into  their 
minds  a  great  horror  of  evil,  and  everything  that  might  rob  them  of 
their  purity.  In  order  to  maintain  and  abide  in  this  spirit,  the 
Brothers  of  the  Society  shall  labor  continually  by  prayer,  by  teach¬ 
ing,  by  vigilance,  and  by  their  own  good  example  in  the  school,  to 
promote  the  salvation  of  the  children  entrusted  to  them  by  bringing 
them  up  in  a  truly  Christian  spirit,  that  is  to  say,  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  Holy  Gospel.” 

The  religious  and  repressive  nature  of  his  educational 
aim  was  evident  everywhere  in  his  schools.  There  was 
scarcely  a  moment  in  the  day  when  some  of  the  pupils 
were  not  kneeling  in  prayer,  and  mass,  confession,  spirit¬ 
ual  reading,  and  sacred  singing  were  also  practiced  at 
all  hours ; 1  and  both  teacher  and  pupils  were  required 
always  to  be  quiet  in  their  actions.  In  order  that  the 
necessity  of  speaking  might  be  removed  as  far  as  pos¬ 
sible,  La  Salle  invented  a  system  of  signs,  and  in  other 
ways  endeavored  to  suppress  all  noise  and  restrain 
every  evidence  of  freedom.  This  was,  of  course,  out  of 
keeping  with  the  best  possibilities  for  progress,  but  was 
a  natural  reaction  from  the  noisy  schools  of  the  times. 

The  Institutions  of  the  Christian  Brethren  and  The 
Conduct  of  Schools.  —  The  first  school  of  this  type  was 
established  by  La  Salle  himself  at  Rheims  in  1679,  before 
the  foundation  of  the  order.  A  decade  later,  under  the 
Christian  Brothers,  schools  of  this  type  soon  spread 
through  Paris  and  the  rest  of  France.  In  1685,  in  order 
to  secure  suitable  teachers,  he  opened  a  seminary  for 
schoolmasters  at  Rheims,  and  a  little  later  also  one  at 
Paris,  with  which  he  connected  a  practice  school.  These 
normal  schools  likewise  spread  to  different  centers.  In 
addition,  he  founded  a  technical  school  for  boys  at  St. 
Yon,  near  Rouen,  and  another  at  Paris,  and  this  type  of 
instruction  also  increased  rapidly.  In  all  these  schools 
of  the  Christian  Brothers,  tuition  was  free. 

1  Mrs.  Wilson  outlines  the  time-table  of  the  school  day  on  pages  129- 
131  of  The  Christian  Brothers.  Four  hours  would  seem  to  be  allotted  to 
prayer  and  religious  exercises,  and  probably  six  hours  more  on  Sunday  were 
given  to  Divine  service  and  catechetical  study. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


231 


The  plan  of  the  elementary  schools  of  the  order  was 
worked  out  during  the  first  generation  of  their  existence, 
and  was  crystallized  in  a  system  of  definite  rules.  This 
was  published  in  1720,1  under  the  title  of  Conduite  a 
V usage  des  Ecoles  Chretiennes ,  and  is  usually  known  in 
English  as  the  Conduct  of  Schools.  The  code  was  quite 
as  uniform  and  repressive  as  the  Ratio  Studiorum  of  the 
Jesuits,  but  changes  and  revisions,  to  adapt  the  rules  to 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  have  been  more  often  allowed. 

The  Curriculum,  Method,  and  Discipline  of  the  Ele¬ 
mentary  Schools.  —  The  course  of  study  in  the  schools 
of  the  Christian  Brethren  was  generally  limited  to  the 
rudiments.  A  training  in  religion,  good  manners,2  read¬ 
ing,  writing,  and  arithmetic  made  up  the  main  curric¬ 
ulum.  A  little  elementary  Latin,  however,  was  taught 
in  the  higher  grades  through  the  medium  of  the  ver¬ 
nacular,  as  in  the  Port  Royal  schools.  The  technical 
schools  furnished,  besides,  work  in  manual  training  and 
in  industrial  and  commercial  pursuits. 

From  the  beginning,  the  Christian  Brothers  taught 
by  the  ‘  simultaneous  ’  method.  By  this  was  meant  the 
division  of  the  school  into  classes  rather  than  the  in¬ 
struction  of  each  pupil  individually.  This  seems  a  per¬ 
fectly  natural  procedure  now,  but  at  that  time,  when 
even  the  Jesuit  masters  had  each  pupil  recite  separately, 
it  was  a  great  advance  in  educational  economy. 

The  normal  schools  started  by  La  Salle  also  contrib¬ 
uted  much  to  advancing  the  efficiency  of  teaching.  For 
the  first  time,  teachers  of  ability  and  training  were  made 
possible  for  the  elementary  schools.  According  to  an 
account  of  the  times,3  the  elementary  teachers  just  before 
La  Salle’s  day  consisted  of  sextons,  retired  soldiers,  inn¬ 
keepers,  old-clothes  men,  wig-makers,  masons,  cooks,  and 

1  La  Salle  must  have  drawn  up  the  Conduct  about  1695,  but  after  retir¬ 
ing  from  the  headship  of  the  order,  he  revised  it  carefully,  and  it  was 
printed  for  the  first  time  the  year  after  his  death. 

2  La  Salle  considered  a  training  in  politeness  so  important  for  Christian 
culture,  that  he  wrote  a  special  manual  for  his  schools  called  Les  Regies  de 
la  Bienseance  et  de  la  Civilite  Chretienne. 

3  See  Victor  Plessier,  Histoire  d'une  Ccole  Gratuite. 


Conduct  of 
Schools  de¬ 
scribes  the 
plan  of  the 
order. 


Training  in 
religion,  good 
manners, 
reading,  writ¬ 
ing,  and 
arithmetic. 


Manual 

training. 


The  ‘  simul¬ 
taneous  ’ 
method. 


Improve¬ 
ment  in 
teachers. 


232 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Mechanical, 
mentor  iter , 
and  repres¬ 
sive  methods, 
and  the  ferule 
and  rod  and 
espionage. 


Rapid 
growth  and 
spread  of  the 
Christian 
Brothers’ 
schools,  and 
the  extension 
of  their 
scope. 


others  who  had  failed  in  their  own  employment,  and 
ignorance  and  immorality  alike  were  characteristic  of 
the  class.  Contrasted  with  such  persons,  it  can  be  seen 
how  superior  were  the  teachers  in  La  Salle’s  schools. 

Nevertheless,  the  ‘  simultaneous  ’  method  soon  became 
mechanical,  memoriter ,  and  repressive,  and  resulted  in  a 
lack  of  incentive  on  the  part  of  the  pupil.  In  conse¬ 
quence,  interest  and  control  had  to  be  secured  by  means 
of  frequent  penances  and  severe  corporal  punishment. 
Reprimand  was  occasionally  used,  and  even  expulsion, 
although  only  as  a  last  resort.  The  official  instruments 
of  correction  —  the  ferule  and  the  rod  —  are  carefully 
described  in  the  second  part  of  the  Conduct  of  Studies , 
which  treats  of  discipline.  Here  also  are  specified  the 
exact  offenses  that  are  to  be  punished,  and  the  number 
of  blows  to  be  administered  for  each  misdeed.  Espio¬ 
nage  and  tale-bearing  likewise  had  to  be  encouraged  for 
the  maintenance  of  order. 

The  Educational  Results  of  the  Christian  Brothers.  — 

The  schools  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  however,  met  with 
a  rapid  growth.  By  the  time  of  La  Salle’s  death,  the  num¬ 
ber  of  houses  belonging  to  the  brethren  had  grown  to  be 
twenty-seven  and  the  membership  of  the  society  had  be¬ 
come  two  hundred  and  seventy-four.  Before  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  had  been  a  further  in¬ 
crease  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  schools  and  over 
eight  hundred  brothers,  so  that  facilities  were  furnished 
for  thirty-six  thousand  pupils.  During  the  nineteenth 
century,  in  spite  of  vicissitude  and  persecution,  the 
brethren  and  their  institutions  were  diffused  over  all  the 
states  of  Europe  and  America,  amid  Catholics  and  Prot¬ 
estants  alike,  and  the  scope  of  their  labors  and  instruc¬ 
tion  was  very  greatly  extended.  While  great  changes 
in  the  curriculum  and  method  of  these  schools  have 
taken  place  from  time  to  time,  they  are  still  predomi¬ 
nantly  ascetic  in  their  tone.  There  is,  nevertheless,  much 
to  admire  in  the  history  and  system  of  the  Christian 
Brothers  and  in  the  wonderful  work  they  have  done  for 
elementary  education  among  the  Catholics. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


233 


Catholic  Education  of  Girls.  —  Likewise,  before  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  some  attempt  was 
made  by  Catholic  writers  and  educators  to  provide  for 
the  training  of  women,  but  the  suggestions  made  were 
generally  conservative  and  unsatisfactory.  Even  Jacque¬ 
line  Pascal  (1625-1661)  in  her  Regulations  seems  to 
have  been  very  austere  and  to  have  applied  the  Port 
Royal  methods  to  the  education  of  girls  in  a  much  less 
satisfactory  way  than  did  the  writers  on  the  training  of 
boys.1  The  Letters  of  the  Marquise  de  Sevigne2  (1626- 
1696)  to  her  daughter  show  that  she  was  much  inter¬ 
ested  in  education,  but  she  formulated  no  definite  system. 
The  educational  work  of  the  Marquise  de  Maintenon 
(1635-1719),  who  bore  such  an  intimate  relation  to 
Louis  XIV,  was  likewise  unfruitful.  While  at  first 
breaking  from  the  convent  idea  in  the  school  she  had 
founded  at  St.  Cyr,  and  endeavoring  to  give  a  fairly 
broad  and  literary  course,  she  later  reverted  to  the  as¬ 
cetic  ideal,  although  it  was  tempered  by  her  desire  to  fit 
the  girls  for  society  and  motherhood,  as  well  as  for  the  veil. 
Her  Letter's  and  Conversations  on  the  Education  of  Girls 
and  her  Counsels  to  Young  Women  Who  Enter  Society , 
however,  are  filled  with  good  sense  and  sound  pedagogy. 

The  Educational  Aim,  Course,  and  Method  of  Fenelon. — 
These  works  were  probably  produced  while  the  mar¬ 
quise  was  under  the  influence  of  Francois  Fenelon 3 
(1651-1715),  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  theorists  that 
has  ever  dealt  with  the  education  of  women.  His  writ¬ 
ings  have  not  only  been  read  by  Catholics  of  the  time, 
but  by  persons  of  all  sects  in  every  age.  In  his  De 
V Education  des  Filles  (  ‘  On  the  Education  of  Girls  ’  ) 
Fenelon  holds :  — 

“  Women,  as  a  rule,  have  still  weaker  and  more  inquisitive  minds 
than  men ;  therefore  it  is  not  expedient  to  engage  them  in  studies 

1  See  p.  228. 

2  The  Letters  of  Madame  de  Sevigne  have  been  excellently  translated 
and  edited  by  Mrs.  S.  J.  Hale  (Boston,  1878). 

3  This  was  the  name  of  the  family  estate;  Fenelon’s  own  name  was 
Francois  de  Salignac  de  la  Motte. 


Austere 
methods  of 
Jacqueline 
Pascal : 


the  Letters  of 
Marquise  de 
S6vign6 ; 
and  the  in¬ 
stitution  of 
Marquise  de 
Maintenon 
at  St.  Cyr. 


Fenelon 
holds  in  his 
Education 
Girls  that 
they  should 
be  educated 
for  real 
duties, 

and  that  their 
impulses 
should  not  be 
altogether 
repressed. 


The  objec¬ 
tive  method, 
the  appeal  to 
curiosity,  and 
instruction 
through 
fables  and 
dialogues. 


Fenelon’s 
theory  had 
little  influ¬ 
ence  upon 
the  dogmatic 
and  ascetic 
education  of 
women. 


234  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

that  may  turn  their  heads.  .  .  .  Their  bodies  as  well  as  their  minds 
are  less  strong  and  robust  than  those  of  men.  As  a  compensation, 
nature  has  given  them  for  their  portion  neatness,  industry,  and  thrift, 
in  order  to  keep  them  quietly  occupied  in  their  homes.  But  what 
follows  from  this  natural  weakness  of  women?  The  weaker  they  are, 
the  more  important  it  is  to  strengthen  them.  Have  they  not  duties 
to  fulfill,  and  duties,  too,  that  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  life?  .  .  . 
We  must  consider,  besides  the  good  that  women  do  if  properly 
brought  up,  the  evil  they  may  cause  in  the  world  when  they  lack  a 
training  that  inspires  virtue.” 

Girls  should,  therefore,  from  earliest  infancy,  be 
trained  for  real  duties  in  a  real  world.  Their  natural 
impulses  should  not  be  altogether  repressed,  as  in  the 
convent  education  of  the  times,  but  only  directed.  He 
emphasizes  the  objective  method,  and  bases  it  upon 
the  instinct  of  curiosity,  and  attempts  to  make  study 
agreeable.  All  instruction,  both  intellectual  and  moral, 
he  holds,  should  be  given  indirectly,  and  to  that  end,  he 
believes  in  making  use  of  fables  and  dialogues.  Later, 
when  he  became  tutor  to  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV,  he 
wrote  collections  of  Fables ,  Dialogues  des  Morts  (  ‘  Dia¬ 
logues  of  the  Dead  ’),  and  his  famous  Aventures  de  TNt- 
maque  (‘Adventures  of  Telemachus ’),  and  in  other 
ways  tried  to  carry  his  theories  of  informal  education 
into  effect.1 

Results  of  F&ielon’s  Theories. —  However,  Fenelon’s 
works  were  in  singular  contrast  to  the  constraint  of  the 
Catholic  teaching  orders  and  schools  of  the  period. 
They  had  little  influence  upon  the  education  of  women 
at  the  time,  except  perhaps  temporarily  upon  the  school 
at  St.  Cyr.  Even  the  Convent  of  New  Catholics ,  of 
which  Fenelon  himself  was  the  Superior  at  the  time  of 
producing  his  chief  educational  work,  was  a  school  for 
the  education  of  women  and  girls  proselyted  from 
Protestantism,  and  was  dogmatic  and  ascetic  in  character. 
In  fact,  Fenelon’s  own  educational  practice  is  in  keep- 

1  Fenelon’s  training  of  this  young  duke  of  Burgundy  was  most  suc¬ 
cessful.  The  prince  has  been  described  as  “terrible  from  his  birth,  pas¬ 
sionate,  vindictive,  and  even  cruel  by  nature.”  Fenelon,  however, 
discovered  the  right  modes  of  appeal,  and  soon  made  “  another  man  of 
him  and  changed  such  fearful  faults  into  contrary  virtues.” 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


235 


ing  with  that  of  his  day,  and  he  took  an  active  part  in 
the  Catholic  reaction  that  had  been  begun  by  the  Jesuits 
a  century  and  a  half  before.  He  was  a  man  of  char¬ 
acter  and  thoroughly  amiable,  but  he  held  it  his  duty  to 
force  a  universal  acceptance  of  Catholicism  throughout 
France.  He  and  Madame  de  Maintenon  were  among 
those  who  persuaded  the  king  in  1685  to  revoke  the 
toleration  that  had  been  granted  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
for  nearly  a  century.  Such,  however,  was  the  sentiment 
of  the  times  that  even  the  most  liberal  Catholics,  like 
Madame  de  Sevigne,  rejoiced  at  the  establishment  of 
religious  unity,  and  Fenelon  was  rewarded  for  his  loy¬ 
alty  and  zeal  by  appointment  to  the  archbishopric  of 
Cambrai. 

The  Religious  and  Repressive  Aim  of  Catholic  Edu¬ 
cation. —  It  is  now  obvious  that  the  aim  of  the  Catholic 
education  had  reverted  to  its  old  position.  Its  object 
became,  in  general,  the  training  of  youth  in  religious 
observances  and  in  submission  to  the  authority  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  To  this  ideal  was  added  the  purpose 
of  ridding  the  world  of  the  dangerous  heresies  of  Prot¬ 
estantism.  Reason  was  held,  except  by  the  Jansenists 
and  Oratorians,  who  did  not  exert  much  influence,  to  be 
out  of  place  and  to  be  utterly  unreliable  as  a  guide  in 
education  and  life.  But  the  religious  conception  of  edu¬ 
cation  was  held  by  the  Protestants  in  common  with  the 
Catholics,  and  as  the  Protestant  creeds  became  more 
fixed,  dogmatic,  and  suspicious  of  reason,  there  was  little 
difference  in  principle  between  the  educational  positions 
of  the  two  great  religious  parties. 

The  Organization  of  the  Catholic  Schools  and  Universi¬ 
ties. —  The  Protestants,  however,  had  found  it  wise  to 
place  the  support  and  control  of  education  in  the  hands 
of  the  princes  and  the  State.  They  could  no  longer 
leave  it,  as  the  Catholics  did,  absolutely  to  the  Church, 
which  was  a  sort  of  state  within  the  State.  Owing  to 
this  secular  control  and  their  position  on  universal  intel¬ 
ligence,  the  Protestants  had  generally  established 
state  school  systems  and  held  to  the  duty  of  providing 


Catholic 
education 
aimed  at  a 
training  in 
religion  and 
authority, 
and  opposed 
reason  as 
a  guide. 


Few  in¬ 
stances  in 
Catholic 
states  of 
elementary 
education 
at  public 
expense. 


236 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


In  second¬ 
ary  and 
higher  edu¬ 
cation  the 
individual 
was  also 
subordinated 
to  authority. 


Little  atten¬ 
tion  to  the 
education  of 
women. 


As  a  whole, 
the  courses 
of  study  con¬ 
sisted  mostly 
of  religion 
and  formal 
humanism. 


and  requiring  elementary  education  at  public  expense. 
Of  this  the  Catholics,  from  their  different  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  schools  and  their  different  conception  of  re¬ 
ligion,  did  not  in  general  see  the  necessity,  although  the 
Christian  Brothers  and  others  undertook  a  great  work  in 
this  direction,  and  Duke  Albrecht  V  of  Bavaria  actually 
ordered  throughout  his  state  the  establishment  of  ‘  Ger¬ 
man  ’  schools  with  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  and 
the  Catholic  creed. 

In  secondary  and  higher  education  the  Jesuits  fur¬ 
nished  the  most  thorough  and  well-organized  schools  for 
all  countries,  but  here,  too,  the  subordination  of  the  in¬ 
dividual  to  authority  and  the  Church  was  insisted  upon. 
The  same  attitude  was  taken  in  Germany  and  elsewhere 
by  the  universities  that  remained  loyal  to  Catholicism 
and  in  the  few  new  Catholic  universities  that  were 
founded  at  this  time. 

As  compared  with  the  Protestants,  little  was  done  by 
the  Catholics  for  any  stage  of  the  education  of  women. 
Notwithstanding  the  excellent  theories  of  Fenelon  and 
the  practical  efforts  of  Jacqueline  Pascal  and  Madame 
de  Maintenon,  the  training  of  girls  remained  of  the  aus¬ 
tere  type  of  the  convent,  and  did  not  give  attention  to 
much  beyond  the  forms  of  religion. 

The  Curricula.  —  The  course  of  study  in  the  Catholic 
institutions  was  the  logical  product  of  their  ideals  and 
organization,  and  of  the  times.  While  the  schools  of 
the  Christian  Brothers  trained  their  pupils  in  the  rudi¬ 
ments,  as  well  as  in  religion,  and  the  Oratorians  and  the 
Port  Royalists  somewhat  emphasized  the  vernacular 
studies,  history,  and  philosophy,  yet,  upon  the  whole, 
the  content  of  education  was  largely  religion  and  human¬ 
ism  of  the  most  formal  type.  In  this  respect,  the  Jesuits, 
like  the  Protestant  Sturm,  had  a  tremendous  influence 
upon  the  schools  of  Europe  and  America  for  two  centu¬ 
ries,  and  it  has  been  an  open  question  as  to  which  of  the 
two  was  the  more  important  factor  in  this  coloring  of 
the  curricula. 

The  Teachers  and  Methods.  —  While  the  Jesuits  and 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


237 


the  Christian  Brothers  were  the  first  educators  in  history 
to  undertake  the  training  of  teachers,  and  their  work 
was  most  thoroughly  done,  both  orders  tended  to  preserve 
the  most  formal  and  stereotyped  methods.  In  spite  of 
the  example  of  the  Port  Royalists,  they  emphasized 
memory  at  the  expense  of  reason,  and  held  to  complete 
imitation  without  any  allowance  for  individuality  or 
originality.  They  insisted  upon  the  importance  of  tra¬ 
dition  and  authority,  although,  like  the  Protestants,  they 
endeavored  to  cultivate  controversial  skill.  In  all  in¬ 
stances,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  teachers  were  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  and  usually  from  the  regular  teaching 
orders. 

Results  of  Education  during  the  Reformation.  —  Hence, 
except  for  launching  the  idea  of  civil  support  and  control, 
the  Reformation  accomplished  but  little  directly  making 
for  individualism  and  progress  either  through  the  Prot¬ 
estant  revolts  or  the  Catholic  awakening.  Education 
fell  back  before  long  into  the  grooves  of  formalism, 
repression,  and  distrust  of  reason.  There  resulted  a 
tendency  to  test  life  and  the  educational  preparation  for 
living  by  a  formulation  of  belief  almost  as  much  as  in 
the  days  of  scholasticism.  A  new  measure  for  realizing 
individualism  and  freedom  from  the  bondage  of  tradition, 
and  an  opportunity  to  investigate  and  search  for  truth, 
were  needed.  Such  a  further  fulfillment  of  the  spirit  of 
the  awakening  was  to  be  found  in  the  parallel  and  later 
educational  movement  now  usually  known  as  realism. 


Memory, 
rather  than 
reason,  and 
controversial 
skill  culti¬ 
vated. 


The  teachers 
were  usually 
from  the 
teaching 
orders. 

The  Refor¬ 
mation  ac¬ 
complished 
little  for 
individual¬ 
ism  and 
progress. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Barnard,  H.  American  Journal  of  Education  (Volume  XXVII, 
pp.  165-175,  contains  a  translation  of  the  Jesuit  Ratio  Studiorum 
as  it  appears  in  the  Constitution  of  1558). 

Cadet,  F.  Port  Royal  Education  (contains  extracts  from  the  lead¬ 
ing  Port  Royal  educators,  translated  by  A.  D.  Jones). 

La  Salle,  J.  B.  Conduct  of  Schools. 

Lupton,  K.  Rendon's  Education  of  Girls. 

M’Crie,  T.  Provincial  Letters  of  Pascal. 


238  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

Pachtler,  G.  M.  Ratio  Studiorum  (Monument a  Germanics  Peda¬ 
gogic^  II,  V,  IX,  and  XVI). 

Robinson,  J.  H.  Readmgs  in  European  History.  Chaps.  XXVIII- 
XXIX. 

Robinson,  J.  H.,  and  Whitcomb,  M.  Early  Reformation  in  Ger - 
7nany  (Translation  and  Reprints,  II,  No.  6). 

Rollin,  C.  Traitl  des  Etudes  (Nouvelle  edition  par  Letronne). 

Waterworth,  J.  (Translator).  Decrees  and  Canons  of  the  Council 
of  Trent. 

Wight,  O.  W.  (Editor).  Adventures  of  Telemachus  (translated  by 
Hawkesworth). 

Wight,  O.  W.  (Translator).  Thoughts  of  Pascal. 

II.  Authorities 

Arnold,  M.  Popular  Education  in  France. 

Azarias,  Brother.  Essays  Educational. 

Barnard,  H.  American  Journal  of  Education.  Vols.  XIII,  477- 
486;  XIV,  455-483;  XX,  211-216;  XXIII,  17-46;  XXVII, 
165-175  ;  XXVIII,  1 — 1 6 ;  XXX,  481-490,  and  705-736. 

Barnard,  H.  German  Teachers  and  Educators.  Pp.  229-256. 

Beard,  C.  Port  Royal.  II,  Chap.  II. 

Brown,  H.  C.  The  Jansenists  a?id  Their  Schools  {The  Educational 
Review ,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  485-492  ;  VII,  pp.  64-70). 

Browning,  O.  Educational  Theories.  Chap.  VIII. 

Cadet,  F.  Port  Royal  Education  (translated  by  A.  D.  Jones). 

Cartwright,  W.  C.  The  Jesuits ,  Their  Constitution  and  Teach¬ 
ing.  Chaps.  II— III. 

Compayre,  G.  The  History  of  Pedagogy  (translated  by  Payne). 
Chaps.  VII-VIII,  and  X-XII. 

Creighton,  M.  A  History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  Period  of  the 
Reformation. 

Fisher,  G.  P.  The  Reformation.  Chap.  XI. 

Griesinger,  T.  The  Jesuits. 

Guillaume,  L.  Les  Jesuites  et  les  Classiques  Chretiens. 

Hughes,  T.  Loyola  and  the  Educational  System  of  the  Jesuits. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Educational  Opinion  from  the  Renaissance.  Chap. 
VIII. 

Lindsay,  T.  M.  A  History  of  the  Reformation.  Bk.  VI. 

Magevney,  E.  The  Jesuits  as  Educators . 

Mertz,  G.  K.  Die  Padagogik  der  Jesuiten. 

Munroe,  J.  P.  The  Ediicational  Ideal.  Chap.  VI. 

Nohle,  E.  History  of  the  German  School  System.  (Report  of  the 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1897-1898,  pp.  29-39.) 

Quick,  R.  H.  Educational  Reformers.  Chaps.  IV  and  XI. 

Ravelet,  A.  Blessed  J.  B.  de  la  Salle. 

Russell,  J.  E.  German  Higher  Schools.  Pp.  36-41,  50-58,  and 
I37-I4I- 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS 


239 


Sainte-Beuve,  C.  A.  Port  Royal. 

Schwickerath,  R.  Jesuit  Education. 

Symonds,  J.  A.  Renaissance  in  Italy.  The  Catholic  Reaction, 
Vol.  I. 

Tollemache,  M.  French  Jansenists. 

Ward,  A.  W.  The  Counter-Reformation. 

Wilson,  Mrs.  R.  F.  The  Christian  Brothers. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION 


While  the 
Renaissance 
and  the 
Reformation 
were  harden¬ 
ing  into 
formalism,  a 
new  means 
of  expression 
was  found  in 
*  realism.’ 


This  move¬ 
ment  im¬ 
plied  a 
method  by 
which  ‘  real  ’ 
things  may 
be  known, 


The  Relation  of  Realism  to  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation.  —  From  what  has  preceded,  it  will  readily 
appear  that  the  movement  of  the  seventeenth  century 
called  realism  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  same  underlying 
forces  as  the  humanistic  awakening  of  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  and  the  social  and  religious  reforma¬ 
tion  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth.  In  the  last  four 
chapters  we  have  noted  how,  through  literary  and  aes¬ 
thetic  means,  the  intellectual  quickening  in  Italy  issued 
in  individual  development,  and  how  later  the  same  un¬ 
folding  in  the  North  came  to  stress  “the  infinite  value 
of  each  human  soul,”  and  the  importance  of  every  indi¬ 
vidual’s  judging  for  himself  in  religious  and  theological 
matters.  Now  it  was  while  the  movement  of  the  Ren¬ 
aissance  was  everywhere  losing  its  vitality  and  declin¬ 
ing  into  a  narrow  ‘  Ciceronianism,’ 1  and  the  Reformation 
was  hardening  once  more  into  fixed  concepts  and  a  dog¬ 
matic  formalism,  appealing  to  authority  and  systems  of 
belief,2  that  the  awakened  intellect  of  Europe  tended, 
through  the  channel  of  ‘  realism,’  to  find  still  another 
mode  of  expression.  The  process  of  emancipating  the 
individual  from  tradition  and  repressive  authority  had 
not  altogether  ceased,  but  had  simply  varied  its  form  of 
manifestation. 

The  Nature  of  Realism.  —  This  new  movement  of  real¬ 
ism  also  held  to  the  reliability  of  the  individual  judgment. 
It  implied  a  search  for  a  method  by  which  real  things 
may  be  known,  and  held  that  real  knowledge  comes 
through  the  reason  or  through  the  senses  rather  than 

1  See  pp.  1 35- 137  and  176.  2  See  pp.  204  f.  and  237. 


240 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  24 1 


through  memory  and  reliance  upon  tradition.1  The 
most  distinct  form  of  realism  interpreted  ‘  real  things  ’ 
as  individual  objects,  and  was  an  application  of  the  new 
spirit  and  methods  of  the  awakening  to  investigation  in 
the  natural  sciences.2  In  fact,  ‘  realism  ’  in  its  strictest 
connotation  might  well  be  denominated  the  ‘  early  scien¬ 
tific  ’  movement.3  This  would,  however,  seem  to  limit 
the  term  to  the  later  and  more  definite  development  that 
it  reached  in  what  has  been  called  4  real  ’  or  *  sense’ 
realism,  and  to  obscure  its  origin  and  its  close  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Renaissance  and  Reformation  as  part  of 
the  same  freeing  of  the  human  intellect  from  the  bonds 
of  dogma.  And  while  ‘sense’  realism  cannot  be  said 
to  appear  as  a  distinct  movement  until  the  formulation 
of  the  scientific  method  by  Bacon  early  in  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century,  its  roots  run  back  into  the  other  move¬ 
ments  of  the  awakening  for  at  least  a  century  before 
that  time.  Even  in  the  humanistic  movement,  although 
there  is  not  much  evidence  of  interest  in  objects  as  the 
true  realities,  there  seems  to  be  a  tendency  to  break 
from  a  restriction  to  words  and  set  forms  and  an  effort 
to  seek  for  the  ideas,  or  *  real  things,’  back  of  the  written 
words.  It  was  such  a  broad  type  of  humanism,  of  course, 
that  marked  the  Renaissance  in  the  first  place,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  sixteenth  century  that  it  tended  to 
harden  into  a  formalism.  But  during  the  period  of 
decline  there  is  also  a  clearly  marked  effort  to  return 


1  Philosophically,  this  position  has  been  known  as  ‘  rationalism  ’  when, 
as  with  Descartes  and  his  school,  it  was  held  that  whatever  appears  clearly 
and  distinctly  is  true,  or  as  ‘empiricism’  when  the  reliability  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual  was  transferred  to  sense  experience,  as  in  the  case  of  Locke  and 
Hume. 

2  The  movement  is,  therefore,  almost  the  opposite  of  scholastic  ‘  real¬ 
ism’  (see  pp.  52  f.)  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  should  not  be  confused  with  it. 
In  each  case,  the  significance  depends  upon  what  is  to  be  considered  the 
‘real’  thing, —  ideas  or  individual  objects. 

3  With  this  interpretation  in  mind,  Browning  ( Educational  Theories , 
Chapters  III-VII)  divides  educational  thinkers  into  three  classes,  ‘  human¬ 

ists,’  who  wish  to  educate  by  means  of  the  classics;  ‘realists,’  who  would 
use  the  works  of  nature;  and  ‘naturalists,’  who  aim  rather  at  a  training, 
outside  of  schools  and  knowledge,  for  the  development  of  character. 


and  in  its 
strictest  con¬ 
notation 
might  be 
called  the 
1  early  scien¬ 
tific  *  move¬ 
ment,  did 
this  not  ob¬ 
scure  the 
connection 
with  the 
Renaissance 
and  Refor¬ 
mation. 


The  broader 
humanism, 
or  ‘  human¬ 
istic’  realism, 
and  the 
attempt 
to  adapt 
education  to 
actual  living, 
known  as 
‘  social  ’  real¬ 
ism,  together 
form  a  bridge 
from  human¬ 
ism  to  sense 
realism. 


The  early 
realists  used 
the  classical 


242  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

to  the  better  ideals  of  the  earlier  days  and  to  oppose  the 
artificial  formulations  into  which  humanism  was  crystal¬ 
lizing.  By  advocates  of  this  broader  humanism,  form 
was  considered  of  importance  only  as  a  doorway  to  con¬ 
tent,  and  it  was  hoped  to  make  the  classical  literatures 
a  means  of  studying  human  life,  motives,  and  institu¬ 
tions. 

The  Earlier  Realism,  Verbal  and  Social.  —  This  broader 
humanism  may,  therefore,  as  properly  be  called  ‘  verbal  ’ 
or  ‘  humanistic  ’  realism,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the 
forerunner  of  sense  realism.  With  its  emphasis  upon 
content  often  went  the  study  of  social  and  physical 
phenomena,  in  order  to  throw  light  upon  the  meaning 
of  the  passages  under  consideration.  There  seems  also 
to  have  been  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  several  writers 
to  adapt  education  to  actual  living  in  a  real  world  and  to 
prepare  young  people  for  the  concrete  duties  of  life. 
This  latter  phase  of  the  renewed  humanism  was  most 
frequently  stressed  in  the  education  of  young  aristocrats. 
It  usually  involved  a  study  of  the  customs,  institutions, 
and  languages  of  other  countries  through  travel  under 
the  care  of  a  tutor  or  residence  in  a  foreign  school. 
Such  a  movement  has  been  known  as  ‘social’  realism, 
but  it  cannot  easily  be  distinguished  from  ‘  verbal  *  real¬ 
ism.  While  one  element  or  the  other  may  seem  to  be 
more  prominent  in  a  certain  treatise,  the  two  phases  of 
education  are  largely  bound  up  in  each  other,  and  both 
tendencies  appear  in  most  authors  of  the  times.  They 
seem  to  be  but  two  sides  of  the  same  thing  and  to  con¬ 
stitute  together  a  natural  bridge  from  humanism  to  sense 
realism. 

The  Earlier  Realists.  —  Hence  it  happens  that  while 
most  educators  continued  during  the  sixteenth  and  seven¬ 
teenth  centuries  to  make  up  the  course  of  study  from 
classical  elements,  the  attitude,  in  the  case  of  some,  at 
least,  was  very  different  from  what  it  had  been.  These 
reformed  humanists  or  early  realists  wished  to  use  the 
classical  authors  to  understand  life  and  nature  through 
an  appreciation  of  what  had  been  the  highest  produc- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  243 


tions  of  the  human  mind,  and  to  make  education  a 
preparation  for  real  living.  Erasmus,  for  example,  is 
scathing  in  his  ironical  description  of  Ciceronianism,  and 
justifies  grammar  simply  as  a  gateway  to  ideas  and  real 
things.  He  declares  :  — 

“  Knowledge  seems  to  be  of  two  kinds  :  that  of  things  and  that 
of  words.  That  of  words  comes  first,  that  of  things  is  the  more 
important.  ...  So,  then,  grammar  claims  the  first  place  and 
should  be  taught  to  youth  in  both  Greek  and  Latin.  .  .  .  Having 
acquired  the  ability  to  speak,  if  not  volubly,  certainly  with  correct 
ness,  next  the  mind  must  be  directed  to  a  knowledge  of  things.” 

Elsewhere1  we  have  seen  that  Erasmus  was  vehe¬ 
mently  opposed  to  wasting  time  upon  the  details  of  ac¬ 
cidence  and  syntax,  and  that  he  felt  the  main  purpose 
of  grammar  was  to  unlock  the  content  of  the  classics. 
Through  this  literature  he  believed  that  a  knowledge  of 
reality  came,  and  that  geography,  natural  history,  and 
agriculture  should  be  studied  for  the  sake  of  the  light 
they  throw  upon  it.  Similarly,  Melanchthon  states  :  — 

11 1  always  endeavor  to  introduce  you  to  such  authors  as  will  in¬ 
crease  your  comprehension  of  things  while  they  contribute  toward 
enlarging  your  language.  These  two  parts  belong  together,  and 
have  sworn  friendship,  as  Horace  says,  so  that  one  stands  and  is 
supported  by  the  other,  because  no  one  can  speak  well  if  he  does 
not  understand  what  he  wishes  to  say,  and  again  knowledge  is  lame 
without  the  light  of  speech.” 

Neander,  too,  ventured  to  question  the  value  of  the 
classics  where  no  real  knowledge  was  obtained,  and 
recommended  the  study  of  history,  geography,  science, 
and  music  for  making  clear  the  ideas  of  the  ancients.2 
Elyot  was  also  found  to  advocate  Greek  and  Latin  for 
their  content  and  preparation  for  life,3  and  Ascham 
criticises  the  schools  of  the  day  for  their  grammatical 
grind  and  their  neglect  to  bring  the  student  into  an 
understanding  of  the  authors  themselves.4 

Rabelais  and  His  Works.  —  More  radical  innovations 
than  any  that  appear  in  these  other  early  realists,  how- 

1  See  pp.  152  f.  3  See  p.  165. 

2  See  p.  189.  4  See  p.  167. 


authors  to 

understand 

life. 

Position  of 
Erasmus, 


Melanch¬ 

thon, 


Neander, 
Elyot,  and 
Ascham. 


The  life  of 
Rabelais. 


244 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


His  Gar - 
gantua  and 
Pantagruel. 


Rabelais 
constructed 
a  theory  of 
education  in 
which  the 
whole  man 
was  to 
benefit. 


ever,  are  implied  in  the  skits  of  Luther’s  contemporary, 
the  madcap  Rabelais,  upon  the  formal  classicism,  and  in 
his  suggestions  for  a  more  rounded  and  valuable  course 
of  study.  Francois  Rabelais  (1495-1553)  was  the  son 
of  a  French  innkeeper,  but  was  educated  for  a  career 
in  the  Church.  His  appetite  for  letters  and  science, 
together  with  his  interest  in  the  beautiful  scenery  amid 
which  he  was  reared,  led  to  his  abandonment  of  the 
monastery  and  to  entrance  upon  a  roving  existence. 
He  studied  medicine,  but,  while  engaged  in  its  practice, 
spent  most  of  his  time  in  producing  works  of  scholar¬ 
ship,  and  his  world-famed  Gargantua  and  Pantagruel . 
These  were  the  stock  names  for  giants  in  the  romantic 
writings  of  the  day,  and  by  caricaturing  these  stories 
he  found  a  most  effective  way  of  appealing  to  the  people 
of  his  generation  and  drawing  attention  to  the  current 
abuses.  For  the  same  reason,  these  works  are  indecent 
almost  beyond  hope  of  intelligent  expurgation,1  but  be¬ 
neath  all  the  obscene  farce  there  runs  a  serious  purpose. 

The  Training  of  the  Whole  Man.  —  The  Gargantua 
and  Pantagruel ,  which  are  continuous  in  plot,2  consti¬ 
tute  a  revolt  from  the  narrower  humanism  and  ecclesi¬ 
astical  abuses.  They  are  filled  with  biting  sarcasm 
against  the  monasteries  and  their  courses  of  study,  but 
are  no  more  sparing  in  their  ridicule  of  the  Calvinistic 
and  Lutheran  dogmatism.  But  these  works  are  not 
altogether  negative,  for  Rabelais  does  endeavor  also  to 
construct  a  theory  of  education  on  broad  principles.  In 
his  scheme  the  whole  man  is  to  benefit.  Together  with 
the  intellect,  the  senses  are  to  be  trained ;  the  body,  as 
well  as  the  mind,  is  to  be  nurtured ;  character  and  a 
religious  spirit  are  to  be  developed ;  and  the  pupil  made 
competent  to  take  his  place  in  a  world  of  men,  and  to 
perform  with  ease  and  dignity  all  that  manhood  demands. 


1  Fleury  (. Rabelais  et  Ses  CEuvres')  has  most  nearly  succeeded  in  a  disin¬ 
fected  version.  Cf.  also  Besant’s  Readings  in  Rabelais. 

2  The  series  contains  five  books  in  all,  the  last  four  of  which  belong  to 
the  Pantagruel.  The  third  is  the  masterpiece,  while  the  last  two  are 
much  inferior  and  do  not  concern  us  here. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  245 


The  Informal  Method  of  the  Gargantua.  —  To  achieve 
this  for  Gargantua,  his  father,  after  finding  the  ordinary 
grammatical  drill  a  humiliating  failure,  finally  has  the 
boy  begin  a  course  of  informal  training  quite  in  contrast 
to  the  former  plan.  The  Scriptures  are  read  and  ex¬ 
plained  to  him  during  his  bath  upon  arising,  and  the 
sky  is  observed  and  its  appearance  compared  with  that 
of  the  evening  before.  While  dressing  he  is  exercised 
in  a  review  of  the  previous  day’s  work,  and  after  break¬ 
fast  he  is  read  to  for  three  hours.  Then  he  and  his 
tutor  adjourn  to  the  tennis-ground  and  play  until  they 
are  in  a  profuse  perspiration.  While  rubbing  down  and 
dressing  for  dinner,  they  repeat  extracts  from  the  les¬ 
sons  learned  earlier  in  the  day.  At  the  dinner-table 
they  discuss  the  origin,  history,  and  use  of  various 
comestibles,  and  then  give  thanks  to  God  for  his  bounty. 
Next,  Gargantua  spends  an  hour  playing  cards,  thereby 
learning  the  science  of  numbers,  while  the  three  hours 
following  are  given  to  writing,  drawing,  and  lettering. 
The  remnant  of  the  afternoon  is  spent  in  out-of-door 
sports,  and  after  the  evening  meal  come  cards,  music, 
a  short  practical  lesson  on  astronomy,  and  a  review  of 
the  day’s  proceedings. 

Thus  Rabelais  would,  by  a  most  natural  method,  af¬ 
ford  a  well-rounded  education.  Instruction  is  divorced 
from  formal  humanism,  although  six  hours  a  day  is  de¬ 
voted  to  books.  Due  attention  is  paid  to  the  common 
affairs  of  life  and  to  physical  training,  and,  while  no 
time  is  spent  upon  mass  and  daily  services,  expositions 
of  the  Bible,  brief  prayers  at  the  proper  times,  and  other 
religious  lessons  are  given.  No  moment  of  the  day  is 
wasted,  and  no  corporal  punishment  seems  necessary. 

The  Broad  Education  to  be  Secured.  —  Gargantua’s 
education  is  interrupted  by  war,  but  in  the  P antagrueP  a 
letter  that  the  giant  writes  his  son  gives  a  specific  state¬ 
ment  of  the  subjects  Rabelais  thought  should  be  mastered 
under  this  scheme  of  education.  He  declares  :  — 


Instead  of  a 
grammatical 
drill,  the  boy 
is  to  receive 
an  informal 
training  with 
a  tutor. 


The  pupil  is 
to  learn  the 
ancient  lan¬ 
guages,  his¬ 
tory,  cosmog¬ 
raphy, 
geometry, 


1  See  Bk.  II,  Chap.  VIII. 


246 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


arithmetic, 
music,  the 
sciences,  and 
religion. 


Rabelais  was 
in  advance 
of  his  time, 
and  had  little 
effect  upon 
the  schools 
of  the 
period. 


The  life  and 
£ssais  of 
Montaigne. 


11  First,  Greek,  as  Quintilian  advises  ;  secondly,  Latin ;  and  then, 
Hebrew,  because  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Likewise,  Chaldee,  and 
Arabic ;  and  form  thy  style,  as  to  Greek,  after  Plato ;  as  to  Latin, 
after  Cicero.  Let  there  be  no  history  which  is  not  firm  in  thy  mem¬ 
ory,  to  which  end  cosmography  will  help  thee.  Of  the  liberal  arts, 
I  gave  thee  a  taste  of  geometry,  arithmetic,  and  music,  when  thou 
wast  still  little,  no  older  than  five  or  six ;  pursue  the  rest  and  search 
out  all  the  laws  of  astronomy.” 

Besides  this  study  of  languages  for  the  sake  of  the 
content,  and  of  history,  geography,  and  the  mathematical 
subjects,  Gargantua  is  represented  as  insisting  upon  a 
careful  training  in  zoology,  botany,  geology,  and  religion, 
and  issuing  a  final  injunction  :  “  In  short,  let  me  see  thee 
an  abyss  of  learning.” 

The  Influence  of  Rabelais.  —  In  the  construction  of 
such  an  educational  scheme,  however,  Rabelais  shows 
himself  as  extreme  as  in  his  wholesale  condemnation  of 
everything  done  in  his  time,  and  we  may  well  take  issue 
with  him  in  regard  to  the  amount  and  character  of  the 
studies  he  proposes  for  the  curriculum,  but  his  basal 
principle  that  one’s  entire  nature  should  feel  the  bene¬ 
fit  of  education  marks  him  as  many  generations  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  his  time.  His  curriculum,  too,  while  human¬ 
istic,  is  far  from  being  of  the  narrow  and  formal  sort, 
and  by  its  study  of  nature  helps  to  open  the  way  to 
realism.  It  is  not  easy,  however,  to  point  out  any  direct 
effect  that  this  broader  humanism,  or  early  realism,  of 
Rabelais  may  have  had  upon  the  schools  of  the  period. 
But  the  writings  of  Montaigne,  Locke,  Rousseau,  and 
other  educational  theorists  show  the  stamp  of  his  influence. 

Montaigne  and  His  Educational  Essays.  —  Toward  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  during  the  seventeenth, 
this  tendency  to  interpret  humanism  more  realistically 
and  to  make  education  a  means  of  coming  in  touch  with 
society,  takes  more  definite  form  in  such  exponents  as 
Montaigne  in  France,  and  Mulcaster,  Milton,  and  Locke 
in  England.  Michel ,  Seigneur  de  Montaigne  (1533- 
1592),  as  his  title  implies,  belonged  to  the  aristocracy, 
and  assumed  a  more  refined  attitude  than  his  bourgeois 
compatriot,  Rabelais.  He  traveled  much,  wrote  upon 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  247 


a  variety  of  literary  topics,  and  became  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  prose  authors  the  world  has  known.  His  chief 
work  consists  of  three  volumes  of  Essais,  of  which  On 
Pedantry  and  On  the  Education  of  Children 1  especially 
give  his  educational  views. 

Opposition  to  Formal  Humanism. — While  Montaigne 
is  never  as  extreme  as  Rabelais,  throughout  these  essays 
he  launches  ridicule  and  even  invective  against  the  pre¬ 
vailing  narrow  humanistic  education,  with  its  memorizing 
of  words  and  forms.  Of  this  ‘  pedantry  *  he  says  :  — 

“We  only  toil  and  labor  to  stuff  the  memory,  and  in  the  mean¬ 
time  leave  the  conscience  and  understanding  unfurnished  and  void. 
And  like  birds  who  fly  abroad  to  forage  for  grain,  and  bring  it  home 
in  their  beak  without  tasting  it  themselves  to  feed  to  their  young ; 
so  our  pedants  go  picking  knowledge  here  and  there  out  of  several 
authors,  and  hold  it  at  the  tongue’s  end,  only  to  distribute  it  among 
their  pupils.  .  .  .  But  the  worst  of  it  is,  their  scholars  are  no  better 
nourished  by  it  than  themselves :  it  makes  no  deeper  impression 
upon  them  than  upon  the  other,  but  passes  from  hand  to  hand,  only 
to  make  a  show,  to  be  tolerable  company,  and  to  tell  pretty  stories ; 
like  a  counterfeit  coin,  of  no  other  use  or  value  but  as  counters  to 
reckon  with  or  set  up  at  cards.” 

With  such  a  training,  Montaigne  holds  that  it  is  not 
remarkable  that  “  when  the  youth  comes  back  from 
school  after  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  there  is  nothing  so 
awkward  and  maladroit,  so  unfit  for  company  or  employ¬ 
ment;  and  all  that  you  shall  find  he  has  obtained  is  that 
his  Latin  and  Greek  have  made  him  a  more  conceited 
blockhead  than  before.” 

Ideas  as  the  Aim  of  Education.  —  This  is  a  typical 
illustration  of  the  early  realist’s  attitude,  with  its  protest 
against  mere  memorizing  without  understanding  and 
the  failure  to  prepare  for  concrete  living.  From  such  a 
point  of  view,  unless  the  thought  of  the  author  is  grasped 
by  the  pupil  and  has  become  a  part  of  him,  the  classical 

1  The  latter  essay  (Bk.  I,  Chap.  XXV)  is  an  expansion  of  a  part  of  the 
former  (Bk.  I,  Chap.  XXIV),  written  for  his  patroness,  and,  as  the  title 
indicates,  is  more  constructive.  There  are,  likewise,  many  hints  of  his 
educational  positions  in  the  brief  treatise  On  the  Affection  of  Fathers  to 
Their  Children  (Bk.  II,  Chap.  VIII)  and  in  other  essays. 


He  ridicules 
the  formal 
humanistic 
education  of 
the  times ; 


and  holds 
that  ideas 
are  more 
important 
than  words, 


248 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  charac¬ 
ter  than 
books,  and 
recommends 
travel  under 
a  tutor  rather 
than 
schools. 


education  has  failed  of  its  purpose.  “  Let  the  master 
not  only  examine  him  about  the  words  of  his  lesson,” 
says  Montaigne,  “  but  also  as  to  the  sense  and  meaning 
of  them,  and  let  him  judge  of  the  profit  he  has  made, 
not  by  the  testimony  of  his  memory,  but  that  of  his 
understanding.”  And  he  further  insists  :  “  Let  but  our 
pupil  be  well  furnished  with  things,  words  will  follow 
but  too  fast.  ...  I  hold  whoever  has  in  his  mind  a  clear 
and  vivid  idea,  will  express  it  in  one  way  or  another.” 
From  this  it  can  be  seen  how  Montaigne,  like  other  early 
realists,  uses  ‘things’  as  synonymous  with  ‘ideas,’  and 
how  the  broader  humanism  shades  over  into  sense 
realism. 

Travel  the  Best  Means  of  Education.  —  But  Montaigne 
also  holds  that,  even  under  the  most  favorable  circum¬ 
stances,  books  and  the  mere  acquisition  of  knowledge 
are  not  the  most  important  things  in  life,  and  should  not 
be  the  final  aim  of  education.  The  real  purpose  of  all 
training  is  to  shape  our  character  and  make  us  useful 
and  efficient.  “  The  advantages  of  study  are  to  become 
better  and  wiser,”  and  it  is  the  part  of  the  teacher  to 
inspire  a  love  for  moral  living  in  his  pupil  and  make 
him  see  “  that  the  height  and  value  of  true  virtue  con¬ 
sists  in  the  facility,  utility,  and  pleasure  of  its  exercise.” 
Since  virtue  comes  from  experience  and  breadth  of 
vision  rather  than  from  reading,  Montaigne  advocates 
travel1  rather  than  schools  as  a  means  of  education.  He 
declares :  — 


“  That  we  may  whet  and  sharpen  our  wits  by  rubbing  them  on 
those  of  others,  I  would  that  a  boy  should  be  sent  abroad  very  young. 
...  I  would  have  this  the  book  my  young  gentleman  should  study 
with  most  attention ;  for  so  many  humors,  so  many  sects,  so  many 
judgments,  opinions,  laws,  and  customs,  teach  us  to  judge  aright  of 
our  own,  and  inform  our  understanding  to  discover  its  imperfection 
and  natural  infirmity.” 

Like  Rabelais,  Locke,  and  Rousseau,  Montaigne  in¬ 
tended  that  this  travel  and  the  rest  of  education  should 

1  Rabelais  had  previously  implied  this,  and  Milton,  Comenius,  Locke, 
and  Rousseau  afterward  gave  similar  advice. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  249 

be  private  and  under  the  care  of  a  tutor.  This  precep¬ 
tor,  he  held,  should  be  a  man  of  the  world,  one  “  whose 
head  is  well  tempered  rather  than  well  filled. 

Subjects  and  Training  to  be  Acquired.  —  Montaigne’s 
belief  in  educating  for  character  by  means  of  experience 
explains  his  idea  that  the  chief  study  should  be  “  philos¬ 
ophy,  or  at  least  that  part  which  treats  of  man  and  his 
offices  and  duties.”  He  even  asks  :  “Since  philosophy 
is  that  which  instructs  us  to  live,  why  is  it  not  commu¬ 
nicated  to  children  ?  .  .  .  Philosophy  has  discourses 
equally  proper  for  childhood  and  for  old  age.”  But 
“  having  taught  the  pupil  what  will  make  him  more  wise 
and  good,”  Montaigne  believes  that  some  of  the  tradi¬ 
tional  subjects,  —  logic,  rhetoric,  geometry,  and  physics, 
may  be  imparted,  but  they  are  of  less  importance.  He 
even  admits  the  need  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  a  gentleman,1  although  he  maintains  that  one 
should  first  study  his  own  language  and  those  of  his 
neighbors.  He  also  stresses  physical  exercise  and  adds  : 

u  I  would  have  his  outward  behavior  and  mien,  and  the  disposition 
of  his  limbs  formed  at  the  same  time.  It  is  not  a  soul,  it  is  not  a 
body  that  we  are  training ;  it  is  a  man,  and  we  ought  not  to  divide 
him  into  two  parts.” 

In  this  respect  he  was  followed  by  Locke  and  Rous¬ 
seau,  who  may  likewise  have  taken  from  him  the  ‘  hard¬ 
ening  process,’  or  the  inuring  of  the  boy  to  heat  and 
cold,  to  make  him  hardy  and  vigorous. 

Advanced  Methods  of  Teaching.  —  Montaigne’s  sugges¬ 
tions  as  to  method  were  also  advanced.  We  have  already 
seen  his  disapproval  of  the  memoriter  plan  in  vogue.2 
Elsewhere  he  asserts  that  “to  know  by  rote  is  no 
knowledge,”  and  he  recommends  the  more  flexible 
method  of  “  instructing  him  sometimes  by  discourse  and 
sometimes  by  reading  ;  sometimes  his  tutor  shall  put  the 
author  himself  into  his  hands,  and  sometimes  only  the 
marrow  and  substance  of  him.”  He  further  holds  that 
“a  man  should  not  so  much  repeat  his  lesson  as  practice 


The  chief 
study  should 
be  ‘  philoso¬ 
phy,’  but 
some  tradi¬ 
tional  sub¬ 
jects  should 
also  be 
imparted. 


Physical 
exercise  and 
the  ‘  harden¬ 
ing  process.’ 


Disapproval 
of  memo¬ 
rizing. 


Latin  and 
Greek 
learned  by 
speaking 
them. 


1  Locke  makes  a  similar  argument  for  Latin.  See  p.  258.  2  See  p.  247. 


250 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


While  Mon¬ 
taigne’s 
doctrines 
influenced 
the  schools 
but  little, 
they  popu¬ 
larized  many 
educational 
improve¬ 
ments. 


Mulcaster  in 
his  Positions 
and  Elemen- 
tarie  shatters 
the  restricted 
humanism 
and  ap¬ 
proaches 
sense 
realism. 


it,”  and  so  recommends  that  Latin  and  Greek  be  learned 
by  speaking  them.1  If  such  effective  and  pleasant 
methods  were  adopted,  Montaigne  believes  that  the 
existing  discipline,  “  presenting  nothing  but  rods  and 
ferules,”  would  be  unnecessary,  and  that  schools  would 
no  longer  be  ‘mere  prisons.’ 

The  Effects  of  Montaigne’s  Theories.  —  It  may  not  be 
possible  to  show  the  influence  of  Montaigne’s  educa¬ 
tional  doctrines  upon  the  schools  of  the  times,  but  they 
must  have  been  widely  read  and  have  done  much  to 
popularize  many  improvements  in  the  content  and 
methods  of  education.  While  Montaigne  was  not  him¬ 
self  a  teacher,  these  confidential  discourses  have  made  a 
large  contribution  to  educational  theory  and  practice. 
They  seem  to  have  directly  influenced  Locke  and  Rous¬ 
seau,  and  many  others  through  them,  and  it  is  quite 
apparent  that  Montaigne’s  practical  program  of  studies 
led  naturally  into  the  sense  realism  of  Bacon  and 
Comenius. 

Mulcaster’s  Advanced  Position.  —  In  England  an  excel¬ 
lent  instance  of  these  tendencies  of  the  earlier  realism  is 
seen  in  the  advanced  theories  of  the  English  school¬ 
master,  Richard  Mulcaster  (1530-1611).  This  writer 
seems  not  only  to  have  shattered  the  old  idols  of  the 
restricted  humanism,  but  to  have  been  approaching  some 
of  the  new  constructions  of  sense  realism.  Mulcaster 
was  given  a  classical  education  at  Eton,  Oxford,  and 
Cambridge,  and  almost  up  to  his  death  was  in  charge 
of  one  of  the  most  famous  ‘  grammar  ’  schools  in  Lon¬ 
don.  From  1561  to  1586  he  was  headmaster  of  Mer¬ 
chant  Taylors’,  and  during  the  years  1596-1608  he  held 
the  same  office  at  St.  Paul’s.  Nevertheless,  in  both  his 
great  educational  works,  Positions  (1581)  and  Elemen- 
tarie  (1582), 2  he  gives  especial  attention  to  primary 

1  This  method  was  probably  suggested  to  him  by  his  own  experience 
in  studying  with  a  German  tutor  who  knew  no  French  and  had  to  com¬ 
municate  with  him  in  Latin. 

2  The  full  titles  are  Positions  Wherein  Those  Circumstances  are  Ex¬ 
amined  for  the  Training  tip  of  Children  either  for  Skill  in  their  Booke  or 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  25 1 


training,  praises  English  as  a  means  of  education,  and 
expressly  flouts  authority.  “It  is  not  so,”  he  says,  “be¬ 
cause  a  writer  said  so,  but  because  the  truth  is  so.” 

His  Advocacy  of  a  Natural  Education.  —  Mulcaster’s 
attitude  in  these  matters  proceeds  from  his  general 
advocacy  of  an  education  more  in  keeping  with  nature 
than  was  that  in  vogue.  He  states  :  — 

u  The  end  of  education  and  training  is  to  help  nature  to  her  per¬ 
fection,  which  is,  when  all  her  abilities  be  perfected  in  their  habit. 

.  .  .  Consideration  and  judgment  must  wisely  mark  whereunto 
Nature  is  either  evidently  given  or  secretly  affectionate,  and  must 
frame  an  education  consonant  thereto.1’  1 

He,  therefore,  holds  that  the  ‘  ingenerate  ’  abilities  of 
each  child  should  be  examined,  that  a  proper  education 
may  be  given  him,  and  he  attempts  a  psychological 
analysis  as  the  basis  of  his  philosophy  of  education. 
He  finds  that  there  are  to  be  considered  three  main 
powers  of  the  mind,  —  “wit  to  take  (or  perception), 
memorie  to  keep,  and  discretion  to  discern  (or  judg¬ 
ment).”  On  the  development  of  the  last,  which 
functions  in  morality,  he  lays  considerable  stress,  in 
order  that  the  children  may  “  learn  to  discern  that  which 
is  well  from  ill,  good  from  bad,  religious  from  profane, 
honest  from  dishonest,  commendable  from  blameworthy, 
seemly  from  unseemly.”  Like  Montaigne,  too,  he  be¬ 
lieves  in  physical  education  and  the  training  of  the  whole 
man  on  the  ground  of  “  the  soul  and  body  being  co¬ 
partners  in  good  and  ill.” 

His  Emphasis  upon  Elementary  Education.  —  Like  the 
other  humanistic  realists,  Mulcaster  lacks  faith  in  the 
classical  fetish  of  the  times.  Moreover,  he  seems  to 
imply  that  too  many  are  receiving  a  classical  educa¬ 
tion  for  the  good  of  the  country  or  themselves,  by 
asking :  — 

Health  in  their  Bodie ,  and  The  Elementarie ,  Which  Entreateth  Chiefly  of 
the  Right  Writing  of  the  English  Tung.  Only  the  first  part  of  the  latter 
work  was  ever  completed. 

1  When  necessary  for  intelligibility,  Mulcaster’s  orthography  has  been 
modernized. 


He  analyzes 
the  mind 
into  ‘  wit,’ 

‘  memorie,’ 
and  4  discre¬ 
tion,’  and 
recommends 
a  natural 
develop¬ 
ment. 


Physical 

education. 


He  thinks 
that  too 
many  receive 
a  classical 
education, 
but  holds 
that  all 
should  have 
an  elemen¬ 
tary  training. 


Pride  in  the 

mother 

tongue. 


*  Grammar  ’ 
school  after 
twelve,  and 
university 
after  sixteen. 


252  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

“To  have  so  many  gaping  for  preferment,  how  can  it  be  but  that 
such  shifters  must  needs  shake  the  very  strongest  pillar  in  that  state 
where  they  live  ?  ...  If  that  wit  fall  to  preach  which  were  fitter  for 
the  plough,  and  he  to  climb  a  pulpit,  who  is  meant  to  scale  a  wall,  is 
not  a  good  carter  ill  lost,  and  a  good  soldier  ill  placed  ?  ” 

Mulcaster  holds,  however,  that  all  should  have  ele¬ 
mentary  training  in  reading  and  writing  English,  and  in 
drawing  and  music.  Those  who  can  go  no  further  will 
need  this  training  in  the  vernacular  “for  religion’s  sake 
and  their  necessary  affairs,”  while  those  who  are  to  take 
up  Latin  and  the  higher  education  should  have  it  first, 
because  “we  are  directed  by  nature  and  propertie  to 
read  that  first  which  we  speak  first,  and  to  care  for  that 
most  which  we  ever  use  most.”  And  his  pride  in  the 
mother  tongue  blazes  forth  more  clearly  in  his  Elemen- 
tarie ,  where  he  exclaims :  — 

“  I  do  not  think  that  any  language  is  better  able  to  utter  all  argu¬ 
ments  either  with  more  pith  or  greater  plainness  than  our  English 
tongue.” 

Higher  and  Other  Training.  —  This  elementary  educa¬ 
tion  is  to  engage  the  pupil  until  he  is  twelve,  when  those 
fitted  for  it  are  to  begin  the  ‘  grammar  ’  school.  They 
will,  Mulcaster  believes,  then  acquire  more  in  a  second¬ 
ary  education  between  twelve  and  sixteen  than  if  they 
started  Latin  at  seven.  The  university,  which  next  fol¬ 
lows  for  those  of  ability,  is  to  include  “colleges  for 
tongues,  for  mathematics,  for  philosophy,  for  teachers, 
for  physicians,  for  lawyers,  for  divines.”  Mulcaster 
does  not,  however,  believe  foreign  travel  as  essential  to 
education,  as  do  Montaigne,  Locke,  or  even  Milton, 
although  he  admits  its  value.  But  Mulcaster  devotes 
much  more  space  than  Montaigne  or  Milton,  and  fully 
as  much  as  Locke,  to  a  description  of  the  proper  physi¬ 
cal  training.1  Although  his  account  does  not  embody 
any  peculiar  doctrine,  like  the  *  hardening  process,’2  it  is 
very  broad,  and  includes  dancing,  wrestling,  fencing, 

1  Some  two  thirds  of  his  forty-five  Positions ,  although  not  much  over 
one  third  of  the  actual  number  of  pages,  are  included  in  this  part  of  his 
work.  2  See  pp.  249  and  308. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  253 


running,  leaping,  swimming,  riding,  hunting,  and  shoot¬ 
ing,  and  an  outline  of  the  necessary  knowledge  of 
anatomy,  physiology,  and  hygiene. 

The  Education  of  Girls.  —  While  Mulcaster  gives  first 
attention  to  the  boys,  because  of  their  greater  political 
importance,  he  is  progressive  enough  to  “  admit  young 
maidens  to  learn,”  and  this  he  defends  on  four  grounds, 
—  “  the  custom  of  our  country,  our  duty  towards  them, 
their  natural  ability,  and  the  worthy  effects  of  such  as 
have  been  well  trained.”  As  in  the  case  of  their 
brothers,  too,  the  girls  are  to  be  trained  somewhat  with 
reference  to  their  ability  and  aim  in  life.  They  are  to 
be  taught  reading,  writing,  drawing,  and  music,  just  as 
the  boys  are,  but  the  study  of  the  professions  is  to  be 
replaced  by  that  of  housewifery.  In  some  cases  they 
may  even  be  taught  the  classic  and  other  languages. 

Improvements  in  Teaching.  —  Mulcaster  wishes  the 
method  of  education  to  be  equally  in  conformity  with 
nature,  and  he  insists  that  the  pupil  shall  be  neither 
forced  nor  repressed.  In  the  matter  of  discipline, 
while  he  feels  that  “the  rod  may  no  more  be  spared  in 
schools  than  the  sword  may  in  the  princes’  hand,”  the 
offenses  that  he  has  in  mind  for  its  administration  are 
altogether  those  against  morality.  It  is  also  of  interest 
to  notice  the  importance  that  Mulcaster  attached  to 
securing  good  teachers,  and  his  insistence  that  elemen¬ 
tary  work  is  the  most  difficult  and  that  the  teachers  of 
this  stage  should  have  the  smallest  number  of  pupils 
and  be  paid  more  than  any  of  the  others.  He  wished 
also,  as  has  been  indicated,  to  have  teachers  trained  in 
a  separate  college  of  the  university  upon  the  same  pro¬ 
fessional  basis  as  doctors,  lawyers,  and  clergymen. 

The  Results  of  Mulcaster’s  Positions.  —  The  advanced 
theories  and  suggestions  of  Mulcaster  seem  to  have  been 
but  little  reflected  in  the  immediate  education  of  the 
times.  Even  the  schools  of  which  he  was  the  head 
were  distinctly  Latin  schools,  and  were  for  the  most  part 
conducted  upon  the  traditional  basis.  However,  he  must, 
through  his  proposed  reforms  in  aim,  organization,  and 


Girls  to  be 
trained  with 
reference  to 
their  ability 
and  aim  in 
life. 


The  pupil 
should  be 
neither 
forced  nor 
repressed. 


Teachers 
and  their 
training. 


Mulcaster’s 
theories  had 
little  effect 
at  the  time, 
but  greatly 
influenced 
the  later 
realists. 


254 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Some  of  his 
ideas  not 
utilized 
before  the 
nineteenth 
century. 


Milton’s 
Tractate 
opposes  the 
formal 
humanism, 


method,  have  had  a  far-reaching  effect  upon  the  later 
realists  and  the  realistic  trend  in  modern  education.  In 
fact,  while  there  is  not  as  much  direct  reference  to  sense 
training  and  a  scientific  content  in  Mulcaster’s  course  of 
study  as  in  even  that  of  Rabelais  and  Milton,  by  his  ad¬ 
vocacy  of  the  vernacular  and  especially  by  his  attempt 
at  a  science  of  education,  he  may  be  regarded  as  more 
nearly  approaching  sense  realism  than  any  other  of  the 
broader  humanists.  According  to  some  authorities, 
Mulcaster,  rather  than  Bacon,  Ratich,  or  Comenius, 
should  be  considered  the  first  writer  to  embody  the  genu¬ 
ine  spirit  of  sense  realism  in  his  works.  Some  of  his 
ideas,  too,  seem  not  to  have  been  utilized  until  much  later 
than  the  period  of  sense  realism.  His  suggestions 
that  girls  should  have  a  complete  training,  that  the 
initial  work  in  education  is  the  most  important  and  diffi¬ 
cult,  and  that  teachers  should  be  trained  for  every  stage 
of  the  work,  it  has  remained  for  the  nineteenth  and 
twentieth  centuries  to  realize. 

Milton’s  Opposition  to  the  Formal  Humanism. — An¬ 
other  important  illustration  of  the  broader  humanism, 
while  not  containing  propositions  as  advanced  as  those 
of  Mulcaster,  is  found  some  three  quarters  of  a  century 
later  in  the  Tractate  of  Education  by  the  great  poet  and 
scholar,1  John  Milton  ( 1608-1674).  While  a  remarkable 
classicist  himself,  Milton  objects  to  the  usual  humanistic 
education  with  its  “  grammatic  flats  and  shallows  where 
they  stuck  unreasonably  to  learn  a  few  words  with 
lamentable  construction,”  and  declares  that  the  boys  “  do 
for  the  most  part  grow  into  hatred  and  contempt  of 
learning.”  He  claims  that  “  we  do  amiss  to  spend  seven 
or  eight  years  in  scraping  together  so  much  miserable 
Latin  and  Greek  as  might  be  learned  otherwise  easily 
and  delightfully  in  one  year.”  He  especially  stigma¬ 
tizes,  as  Locke  did  later,  the  formal  work  in  Latin  com¬ 
position,  “  forcing  the  empty  wits  of  children  to  compose 


1  Milton’s  fame  as  the  author  of  Paradise  Lost  and  other  poems  has 
obscured  the  fact  that  he  conducted  a  private  school  for  nine  years,  and 
tfas  an  industrious  scholar  and  an  active  pamphleteer  during  middle  life. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  255 


themes,  verses,  and  orations,  which  are  the  acts  of  ripest 
judgment  and  the  final  work  of  a  head  filled  by  long 
reading  and  observing.” 

An  Encyclopaedic  but  Humanistic  Program.  —  It  is  not, 
however,  the  study  of  classics  in  itself  that  Milton  op¬ 
poses,  but  the  constant  harping  upon  grammar  without 
regard  to  the  thought  of  the  authors,  for  “  though  a  lin¬ 
guist  should  pride  himself  to  have  all  the  tongues  that 
Babel  cleft  the  world  into,  yet  if  he  have  not  studied  the 
solid  things 1  in  them  as  well  as  the  words  and  lexicons,  he 
were  nothing  so  much  to  be  esteemed  as  any  yeoman  or 
tradesman  competently  wise  in  his  mother  dialect  only.” 
In  this  statement,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  it  is  obvious  that 
by  ‘  things  ’  Milton,  like  Montaigne,2  meant  ideas  and  not 
objects.  Even  in  his  recommendation  of  a  most  ency¬ 
clopaedic  program  of  studies,  which  is  usually  one  of  the 
marks  of  the  sense  realist,  he  seems  to  imply  the  human¬ 
istic  rather  than  the  later  realism,  although  he  wrote 
half  a  century  after  Bacon  and  was  a  younger  contem¬ 
porary  of  Comenius.3  While  this  curriculum  includes 
large  elements  of  science  and  manual  training,  and  espe¬ 
cially  emphasizes  a  knowledge  of  nature,  it  affords  the 
broadest  training  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and,  after  the 
fashion  of  broader  humanism  in  general,  undertakes  to 
teach  agriculture  through  Latin,  and  natural  history, 
geography,  and  medicine  through  Greek.  On  the  whole, 
it  is  an  education  of  books,  and  the  enormous  load  of 
languages,  —  Italian,  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  Syriac,  as 
well  as  Latin  and  Greek,  —  together  with  mathematics, 
sciences,  and  other  studies,  would  make  such  a  course 
impossible,  except,  as  some  one  has  said,  for  a  *  college  of 
Miltons.’  As  with  some  of  the  other  humanistic  realists, 
notably  Montaigne,  Milton  also  would  have  considerable 
time  given,  toward  the  end  of  the  course,  to  the  social  sci¬ 
ences,  —  history,  ethics,  politics,  economics,  theology,  — 
and  to  such  practical  training  as  would  bring  one  in  touch 

1  Italics  mine.  2  See  p.  248. 

3  The  Tractate  is  dedicated  to  Samuel  Hartlib,  who  was  also  the  friend 
and  patron  of  Comenius,  and  a  well-known  sense  realist. 


and  advo¬ 
cates  ideas 
rather  than 
words. 


He  recom¬ 
mends  an 
encyclopae¬ 
dic  program, 
including 
sciences,  but 
also  a  broad 
training  in 
Latin  and 
Greek,  and 
much  time 
on  the  social 
sciences. 


256 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Travel  at 
home  and 
abroad. 


He  defines 
education 
from  the 
standpoint 
of  fitting 
one’s  envi¬ 
ronment. 


The  ‘  Acad¬ 
emy  ’  is  to 
provide  a 
secondary 
and  higher 
education. 


It  was  after¬ 
ward 

adopted  in 
a  modified 
form  by 
the  non¬ 
conformists 
and  by 
America. 


with  life.  He  likewise  advocates  the  experience  and 
knowledge  that  would  come  from  travel  in  England  and 
abroad. 

Milton’s  Definition  of  Education.  —  Thus,  in  the  place 
of  the  usual  restricted  conception  of  humanistic  edu¬ 
cation,  Milton  would  substitute  a  genuine  study  and 
understanding  of  the  classical  authors  and  a  real  prepa¬ 
ration  for  life.  While  he  piously  states  the  aim  of  learn¬ 
ing  as  “to  repair  the  ruins  of  our  first  parents  by 
regaining  to  know  God  aright,”  he  is  more  specific  later 
when  he  frames  his  famous  definition  :  — 

“I  call  therefore  a  complete  and  generous  education  that  which 
fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skilfully,  and  magnanimously  all  the 
offices  both  private  and  public  of  peace  and  war.” 

The  Academy  of  Milton.  — The  school  in  which  Milton 
would  carry  out  his  ideal  education  he  calls  an  Acad¬ 
emy,  and  states  that  it  should  be  held  in  “  a  spatious 
house  and  ground  about  it,  big  enough  to  lodge  one 
hundred  and  fifty  persons.”  This  institution  should 
keep  the  boys  from  the  age  of  twelve  to  twenty-one,  and 
should  provide  both  secondary  and  higher  education, 
“  not  heeding  a  remove  to  any  other  house  of  scholar¬ 
ship,  except  it  be  some  peculiar  college  of  Law  or 
Physic.”  And  he  adds :  “  After  this  pattern  as  many 
edifices  may  be  converted  to  this  use,  as  shall  be  needful 
in  every  city  throughout  this  land.”  Strangely  enough, 
as  will  be  seen  later,1  this  curriculum  and  organization 
of  Milton’s,  exaggerated  as  they  were,  found  a  partial 
embodiment  and  a  function  in  a  new  educational  insti¬ 
tution.  ‘  Academies  ’  based  upon  this  general  plan  were 
organized  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  English  non¬ 
conformists,  and  afterward  afforded  the  name  and  pat¬ 
tern  of  a  species  of  secondary  school  that  was  for  a  time 
predominant  in  America. 

Early  Realism  in  Locke’s  Thoughts.  —  The  broader 
or  realistic  humanism  also  appears  later  than  Milton’s 
time  in  John  Locke  (1632-1704).  As  will  be  shown 


1  See  pp.  291-293. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  257 


later,1  Locke  based  most  of  his  educational  positions 
upon  sense  realism  or  upon  formal  discipline,  but  in 
Some  Thoughts  concerning  Educationy  he  has  many  ele¬ 
ments  that  remind  us  strongly  of  Montaigne,  Milton, 
and  Mulcaster.  The  resemblance  to  Montaigne  is  es¬ 
pecially  noticeable,  although  he  lived  a  century  later 
than  the  French  writer.  The  Thoughts  embodied  Locke’s 
experience  as  a  private  tutor  in  the  family  of  the  Earl 
of  Shaftesbury,  and  consists  of  a  set  of  practical  sugges¬ 
tions  for  the  education  of  a  gentleman,  rather  than  a 
scholar.  The  recommendations,  therefore,  appear  to  be 
somewhat  at  variance  with  the  underlying  principles  of 
Locke’s  philosophy  and  the  intellectual  training  sug¬ 
gested  in  his  other  educational  work,  Conduct  of  the 
U nderstanding . 2 

The  Chief  Aim  of  Education.  —  Like  Montaigne,  Locke 
holds  that  book  education  and  intellectual  training  are 
of  less  importance  than  the  development  of  character 
and  polish.  After  treating  bodily  education  at  consid¬ 
erable  length,  he  states  the  aims  of  education  in  the 
order  of  their  value  as  “  Virtue ,  Wisdom  ( i.e .  worldly 
wisdom),  Breeding ,  and  Learning ,”  and  later  adds  :  — 

“  Learning  must  be  had,  but  in  the  second  place,  as  subservient 
only  to  greater  Qualities.  Seek  out  somebody  that  may  know  how 
discreetly  to  frame  his  Manners  :  Place  him  in  Hands  where  you  may, 
as  much  as  possible,  secure  his  Innocence,  cherish  and  nurse  up  the 
good,  and  gently  correct  and  weed  out  any  bad  Inclinations,  and 
settle  in  him  good  Habits.  This  is  the  main  Point,  and  this  provided 
for,  Learning  may  be  had  into  the  Bargain.” 

Education  through  a  Tutor  and  Travel.  —  Such  a  train¬ 
ing,  Locke  agrees  with  Montaigne,  can  be  secured  only 
through  personal  attention,  and  the  young  gentleman 
should  be  given  a  tutor  when  his  father  cannot  properly 
look  after  his  training.  Likewise,  he  feels  that,  “  to  form 
a  young  Gentleman  as  he  should  be,  ’tis  fit  his  Governor 
should  himself  be  well-bred,  understanding  the  Ways  of 

1  See  pp.  287-289  and  306-310. 

2  The  Conduct  grows  directly  out  of  the  philosophy  of  Locke,  as  given 
in  his  famous  Essay  concerning  the  Human  Under sta nding. 


Locke  holds 
in  his 
Thoughts 
that 


character  is 
of  most 
importance 
in  education. 


The  proper 
training 
comes 
through  a 
tutor  rather 
than  schools. 


Travel’at  the 
right  time. 


Locke  is 
opposed  to 
the  narrow 
humanism, 
but  thinks 
Latin  neces¬ 
sary  to  a 
gentleman, 
and  should 
be  taught  by 
speaking. 


258  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

Carriage  and  Measures  of  Civility  in  all  the  Variety  of 
Persons,  Times,  and  Places;  and  keep  his  Pupil,  as 
much  as  his  Age  requires,  constantly  to  the  Observation 
of  them.”  This  private  training  is  infinitely  to  be  pre¬ 
ferred,  Locke  holds,  to  that  “from  such  a  Troop  of 
Play-fellows  as  schools  usually  assemble  from  Parents 
of  all  kinds.”  Locke  also  believes,  with  Montaigne  and 
Milton,  in  foreign  travel  as  a  means  of  broad  education 
and  adaptation  to  living.  He  thinks,  however,  that  it 
should  not,  as  it  usually  did,  come  at  the  critical  period 
between  sixteen  and  twenty-one,  but  either  earlier,  when 
the  boy  is  better  able  to  learn  foreign  languages,  or 
later,  when  he  can  intelligently  observe  the  laws  and 
customs  of  other  countries. 

Broader  Humanism  and  Improved  Methods  in  Intel¬ 
lectual  Education.  —  Locke  approaches  the  earlier  realists 
even  more  closely  in  showing  scant  respect  for  the  nar¬ 
row  humanism  and  tedious  methods  of  the  grammar 
schools.  He  declares  specifically  :  — 

“  When  I  consider  what  ado  is  made  about  a  little  Latin  and  Greek , 
how  many  Years  are  spent  in  it,  and  what  a  Noise  and  Business  it 
makes  to  no  Purpose,  I  can  hardly  forbear  thinking  that  the  Parents 
of  Children  still  live  in  fear  of  the  Schoolmaster’s  Rod,  which  they 
look  on  as  the  only  Instrument  of  Education  ;  as  a  language  or  two 
to  be  its  whole  Business.” 

Yet  Locke  agrees  with  Montaigne  again1  in  thinking 
Latin  is,  after  all,  “  absolutely  necessary  to  a  Gentle¬ 
man,”  but  that  “  ’tis  a  Wonder  Parents,  when  they  have 
had  the  Experience  in  French  should  not  think  (it)  ought 
to  be  learned  the  same  way,  by  talking  and  reading,”2 
instead  of  through  grammar,  theme-writing,  versifica¬ 
tion,  and  memorizing  long  passages.  Greek,  however, 
Locke  does  not  regard  as  essential  to  a  gentleman’s 
education,  although  he  may  in  manhood  take  it  up  by 
himself. 

Other  Acquisitions. — As  a  further  part  of  ‘intellectual 

1  See  pp.  249  f. 

2  When  conversation  is  impossible,  he  recommends  the  use  of  inter¬ 
linear  translations. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  259 


education,’  Locke  holds  that,  “  besides  what  is  to  be  had 
from  Study  and  Books,  there  are  other  AccomplisJiments 
necessary  for  a  Gentleman,”  —  dancing,  horseback  rid¬ 
ing,  fencing,  and  wrestling.  The  pupil  should  also,  he 
contends,  “  learn  a  Trade ,  a  manual  Trade;  nay,  two  or 
three,  but  one  more  particularly.”  This  the  future 
gentleman  should  acquire,  not  with  the  idea  of  ever 
engaging  in  it,  but  for  the  sake  of  health  and  of 
“easing  the  wearied  Part  by  Change  of  Business.”1 

Influence  of  Locke’s  Thoughts.  —  Thus  throughout  the 
‘  intellectual  education  ’  in  his  Thoughts ,  Locke  appears 
mostly  as  a  humanistic  realist  after  the  pattern  of 
Montaigne  and  Milton.  On  the  other  hand,  his  methods 
in  ‘  physical  education  ’  and  ‘  moral  education  ’  in  this 
work,  and  his  attitude  toward  intellectual  education  in 
his  Conduct  of  the  Understandings  are  largely  disciplinary 
or  sense  realistic  and  can  be  better  discussed  elsewhere.2 
The  influence  of  the  elements  of  humanistic  realism  in 
him,  as  in  Montaigne,  Mulcaster,  and  Milton,  was  not 
immediate,  but  appears  rather  in  his  successors  among 
educational  theorists  and  in  the  later  organization  and 
curriculum  of  English  education.  Rousseau  and  other 
reformers  clearly  owe  many  incidental  suggestions  and 
details  to  Locke,3  and  to  him  is  in  some  measure  due  the 
great  development  of  the  physical  and  ethical  sides  of 
education  in  the  public  and  grammar  schools  of  Eng¬ 
land,  together  with  the  tendency  of  these  institutions  to 
consider  such  aspects  of  rather  more  importance  than 
the  purely  intellectual.  His  plea  for  a  tutor  as  the 
means  of  shaping  manners  and  morals  has  also  prob¬ 
ably  had  its  effect  upon  the  education  of  the  English 
aristocracy. 

The  Effect  of  the  Earlier  Realism.  —  Thus  there  seems 
to  have  been  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 

1  Rousseau,  however,  when  he  borrowed  the  suggestion,  put  it  upon 
the  economic  ground  that  if  the  pupil  lost  his  fortune,  he  would  have  the 
trade  to  fall  back  upon.  2  See  pp.  306-311. 

3  This  Rousseau  fully  acknowledges  in  the  Tmile ,  although  he  does  not 
hesitate  to  criticize  the  English  realist  and  to  base  his  system  on  a  very 
different  set  of  underlying  principles. 


Dancing, 
horseback 
riding,  fenc¬ 
ing, wrestling, 
and  a  trade. 


As  a  human¬ 
istic  realist, 
Locke  influ¬ 
enced  his 
successors 
in  theory,  and 
the  grammar 
schools 
in  practice. 


The  early 
realism  was 
a  return  to 


26o 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


the  broader 
humanism, 
and  held  to 
‘ real  things/ 
or  ideas,  and 
to  real  living, 
rather  than  to 
words  and 
memorizing. 


Since  the 
change 
was  in 
method 
rather  than 
content,  it  is 
difficult  to 
determine 
how  far  the 
education  of 
the  day  was 
affected. 


a  decided  tendency  toward  a  disruption  of  the  tradition¬ 
alism  and  formalism  into  which  humanism  had  crystal¬ 
lized.  In  this  movement  appears  also  an  effort  to  bring 
education  into  touch  with  society  and  to  make  it  a  prepa¬ 
ration  for  real  life.  While  this  whole  tendency  seems  to 
be  a  reaction  to  the  formalized  products  of  the  Renais¬ 
sance,  it  was  caused  by  the  same  awakening  of  the  human 
intelligence  from  which  humanism  had  originally  sprung, 
and  to  a  large  extent  advocated  the  same  material  in 
education.  It  was  its  attitude  in  insisting  upon  content 
rather  than  form  that  was  so  different,  although  this, 
too,  was  similar  to  that  with  which  humanism  had  begun. 
*  Real  things,’  or  ideas,  rather  than  words  and  phrases, 
and  real  living  rather  than  mere  memorizing,  were  now 
emphasized.  The  movement,  therefore,  seems  to  be  a 
species  of  return  to  the  animating  spirit  and  method  of 
the  Renaissance,  and  to  constitute  a  natural  bridge 
between  the  emphasis  upon  verbal  forms  in  narrower 
humanism  and  that  upon  individual  objects  in  sense 
realism.  It  was  at  once  a  species  of  realistic  humanism 
and  of  humanistic  realism. 

Since  this  change  was  more  in  the  method  of  present¬ 
ing  the  subject  matter  than  in  the  content  of  the  course 
itself,  it  is  difficult  to  determine  to  what  extent  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  day  was  affected.  But  so  many  theorists 
espousing  the  cause  of  the  broader  humanism  could  not 
have  existed  without  some  support  from  the  educational 
sentiment  of  the  times,  or  without  having  in  time  some 
reflex  influence  upon  the  institutions.  With  all  the  pro¬ 
verbial  conservatism  and  slowness  of  schools,  they  must 
have  responded  somewhat  to  the  contemporary  spirit, 
and  the  classics  were  probably  taught  everywhere  with 
more  regard  to  the  underlying  thought  and  the  bearing 
of  their  content  upon  actual  life.  Without  this  attitude 
upon  the  part  of  the  schools,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
account  for  their  adoption  of  sense  realism  as  a  matter 
of  natural  evolution. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  REALISTIC  EDUCATION  26 1 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Besant,  W.  Rabelais  (in  Foreign  Classics  Series'). 

Fowler,  T.  Locke's  Conduct  of  the  Understanding. 

Morris,  E.  E.  Milton's  Tractate  of  Education. 

Quick,  R.  H.  (Editor).  Locke's  Some  Thoughts  concerning  Edu¬ 
cation. 

Quick,  R.  H.  (Editor).  Mule  aster's  Positions  and  Element arie. 
Rector,  L.  E.  (Translator).  Montaigne's  Education  of  Children. 
Urquhart,  T.  (Translator).  Works  of  Rabelais. 

Woodward,  W.  H.  Erasmus  concerning  Education  (contains 
the  De  Ratione  and  De  Pueris). 

II.  Authorities 

Adamson,  J.  W.  Pioneers  of  Modern  Education.  Chaps.  I,  VII, 
X,  and  XIV. 

Barnard,  H.  American  f our nal of  Education.  Vol.  II,  pp.  70S 5  ; 
IV, 461-478;  XIV,  147-158;  XXII,  181-190;  XXIII,  151-160; 
XXIV,  179-184;  XXVIII,  745-748.  „ 

Barnard,  H.  English  Pedagogy.  Pp.  145-198.  Second  Series, 

PP*  i77-324. 

Brooks,  P.  Milton  as  an  Educator  (in  Essays  and  Addresses,  pp. 
300-319). 

Browning,  O.  History  of  Educational  Theories.  Chaps.  V— VII. 
Compayre,  G.  History  of  Pedagogy.  Pp.  91-110. 

Fowler,  T.  Locke  (in  English  Men  of  Letters  Series). 

Frazer,  A.  C.  Locke. 

Hazlitt,  W.  C.  The  Works  of  Montaigne.  Introduction. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Educational  Opinion  since  the  Renaissance.  Chaps. 
V-VI,  IX,  and  XII-XIV. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Essays  and  Addresses.  Chap.  IX. 

Lowndes,  M.  E.  Michel  de  Montaigne. 

Masson,  D.  The  Life  of  Milton.  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  186-255. 

Monroe,  P.  Text-book  in  the  History  of  Education.  Chap.  VIII, 
pp.  442-461. 

Morris,  E.  E.  Milton's  Tractate  of  Education.  Introduction, 
I-III. 

Munroe,  J.  P.  The  Educational  Ideal.  Chaps.  II  and  V. 
Oliphant,  J.  The  Educational  Writings  of  Richard  Mulcaster . 
Owen,  J.  Skeptics  of  the  French  Renaissance.  Chap.  I. 

Quick,  R.  H.  Educational  Reformers.  Chaps.  I— II,  V-VI,  VIII, 
and  XII-XIII. 

Street,  A.  E.  The  Education  of  Gargantua  (in  Critical  Sketches). 
Watson,  F.  Mulcaster  and  Ascham. 

Woodward,  W.  H.  Education  during  the  Renaissance.  Chaps. 
XII-XIII. 

Woodward,  W.  H.  Erasmus  concerning  Education.  Chaps.  II 
and  V. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


' Sense’ 
realism  was 
a  reflection 
of  the  scien¬ 
tific  develop¬ 
ment  in  the 
sixteenth  and 
seventeenth 
centuries. 

It  led  to  new 
principles, 
content, 
method,  and 
texts  in  edu¬ 
cation. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 

The  Development  of  Realism. —  But  the  realistic  awak¬ 
ening  did  not  stop  with  reviving  the  idea  back  of  the 
word  or  with  the  endeavor  to  bring  the  pupil  into  touch 
with  the  life  he  was  to  lead.  The  earlier  or  humanistic 
realism  simply  represents  a  stage  in  the  process  of 
transition  from  the  narrow  and  formal  humanism  to  the 
movement  of  sense  realism.  This  later  form  of  realism 
was  a  reflection  of  the  great  scientific  development  of 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the 
seventeenth  centuries,  with  its  variety  of  discoveries  and 
inventions.  The  first  great  step  in  this  movement  was 
that  taken  by  Copernicus.  Not  until  1543  was  his 
hypothesis  of  a  solar  system  published,  but  as  early  as 
1496  there  had  been  a  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing 
Ptolemaic  interpretation,  and  a  groping  after  a  more 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  universe.  After  Coper¬ 
nicus,  other  great  discoverers  rapidly  arose  in  Italy, 
France,  Holland,  and  England,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
new  movement  was  felt  in  philosophy  and  education. 
Many  new  discoveries  in  science  and  inventions  were 
made,  and  philosophy  began  to  base  itself  upon  reason 
and  the  senses.  Kepler  made  it  possible  to  search  the 
heavens,  Galileo  reorganized  the  science  of  physics,  and 
an  air-pump  was  invented  by  Guericke.  This  scientific 
progress  was  accompanied  on  the  philosophic  side  by 
the  rationalism  of  Descartes  and  the  empiricism  of 
Locke.  The  educational  theorists,  as  a  result,  began  to 
introduce  science  and  a  knowledge  of  real  things  into 
the  curriculum.  It  was  felt  that  humanism  gave  a 
knowledge  only  of  words,  books,  and  opinions,  and  did 
not  even  at  its  best  lead  to  a  study  of  real  things.  Hence 
new  methods  and  new  books  were  produced,  to  shorten 

262 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


263 


and  improve  the  study  of  the  classical  languages,  and 
new  content  was  imported  into  the  courses  of  study. 
The  movement  also  included  an  attempt  at  a  formulation 
of  scientific  principles  in  education  and  an  adaptation  of 
education  to  the  nature  of  the  child. 

Bacon  and  His  New  Method.  —  The  new  tendency, 
however,  did  not  appear  in  education  until  after  the 
time  of  Francis  Bacon  (1561-1626).  The  use  of  the 
scientific  method  by  the  various  discoverers  was  largely 
unconscious,  and  it  remained  for  Bacon  to  formulate 
what  he  called  the  method  of  ‘induction  ’,  and,  by  advo¬ 
cating  its  use,  to  point  the  way  to  its  development  as  a 
scientific  theory  of  education.  He  is,  therefore,  ordi¬ 
narily  known  as  the  first  sense  realist.  According  to 
Dr.  Rawley,  his  biographer,  Bacon,  while  still  at  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  conceived  a  disgust  for 
Aristotle’s  philosophy  as  it  was  then  taught  At  any 
rate,  it  is  known  that  even  during  the  busiest  part  of 
his  public  career  he  undertook  in  sporadic  works  to 
combat  the  Aristotelian  method,  and  to  form  a  new  pro¬ 
cedure  on  the  basis  of  the  scientific  discoveries  of  the 
day.  Not  until  1620,  however,  did  he  publish  his  great 
treatise  on  inductive  reasoning  called  Novum  Organum 
(‘new  instrument’)  in  opposition  to  Aristotle’s  work  on 
deduction.  In  behalf  of  his  treatise  Bacon  argues  that, 
as  the  hand  is  helpless  without  the  right  tool  to  aid  it,  so 
the  human  intellect  is  inefficient  when  it  does  not  possess 
its  proper  instrument  or  method,  and,  in  his  opinion,  all 
men  are  practically  equal  in  attaining  to  complete 
knowledge  and  truth,  if  they  will  but  use  the  mode  of 
procedure  that  he  describes.  This  new  method  of  seek¬ 
ing  knowledge  he  contrasts  with  that  in  vogue,  as  follows  : 

“  There  are  and  can  be  only  two  ways  of  searching  into  and  discov¬ 
ering  truth.  The  one  flies  from  the  senses  and  particulars  to  the  most 
general  axioms,  and  from  these  principles,  the  truth  of  which  it  takes 
for  settled  and  immovable,  proceeds  to  judgment  and  the  discovery 
of  middle  axioms.  And  this  way  is  now  in  fashion.  The  other  de¬ 
rives  axioms  from  the  senses  and  particulars,  rising  by  a  gradual  and 
unbroken  ascent,  so  that  it  arrives  at  the  most  general  axioms  last  of 
all.  This  is  the  true  way,  but  as  yet  untried.” 


Bacon,  in 
opposition  to 
the  Aristote¬ 
lian  method, 
published  his 
Novum 
Organum, 
by  means  of 
which  he 
thought  all 
men  might 
attain  to 
complete 
knowledge 
and  truth. 


264 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


First,  how¬ 
ever,  one 
must  divest 
himself  of 
certain  pre¬ 
conceptions, 
or  *  idols.’ 


And  one 
must  not  stop 
with  par¬ 
ticulars. 


The  facts 
must  be  tabu¬ 
lated  and  the 
*  forms  ’  dis¬ 
covered. 


Hence  Bacon  would  begin  with  particulars,  rather 
than  use  the  a  priori  reasoning  of  the  syllogism,  as 
advocated  by  the  schoolmen  under  the  impression  that 
this  was  the  method  of  Aristotle.  Before,  however, 
one’s  observations  can  be  accurately  made,  Bacon  felt  it 
would  be  necessary  to  divest  oneself  of  certain  false 
and  ill-defined  notions  to  which  humanity  is  liable.  These 
preconceptions  of  which  it  is  necessary  to  be  rid  are  his 
famous  ‘idols,’  which  he  declares  to  be  of  four  classes: — 

“  Idols  of  the  Tribe,  which  have  their  foundation  in  human  nature 
itself;  Idols  of  the  Cave,  for  every  one,  besides  the  faults  he  shares 
with  his  race,  has  a  cave  or  den  of  his  own ;  Idols  of  the  Market¬ 
place,  formed  by  the  intercourse  and  association  of  men  with  each 
other ;  and  Idols  of  the  Theatre,  which  have  immigrated  into  men’s 
minds  from  the  various  dogmas  of  philosophies  and  also  from  wrong 
laws  of  demonstration.” 

Nor  should  the  new  method  end  with  a  mere  collec¬ 
tion  of  particulars.  This  proceeding  Bacon  believes  to 
be  useless  and  fully  as  dangerous  for  science  as  to  gen¬ 
eralize  a  priori ,  and  holds  that  these  two  polar  errors 
together  account  very  largely  for  the  ill  success  of 
science  in  the  past.  He  declares:  — 

“Those  who  have  handled  sciences  have  been  either  men  of  ex¬ 
periment  or  men  of  dogmas.  The  men  of  experiment  are  like  the 
ant ;  they  only  collect  and  use :  the  reasoners  resemble  spiders  ;  who 
make  cobwebs  out  of  their  substance.  But  the  bee  takes  a  middle 
course ;  it  gathers  its  material  from  the  flowers  of  the  garden  and 
the  field,  but  transforms  and  digests  it  by  a  power  of  its  own.  Not 
unlike  that  is  the  true  business  of  philosophy ;  for  it  neither  relies 
solely  or  chiefly  on  the  powers  of  the  mind,  nor  does  it  take  the 
matter  which  it  gathers  from  natural  history  and  mechanical  experi¬ 
ments  and  lay  it  up  in  the  memory  whole,  as  it  finds  it ;  but  lays  it 
up  in  the  understanding  altered  and  digested.  Therefore,  from  a 
closer  and  purer  league  between  these  two  faculties,  the  experi¬ 
mental  and  the  rational  (such  as  has  never  yet  been  made),  much 
may  be  hoped.” 

In  the  second  book  of  the  Novum  Organum  Bacon 
begins,  though  he  does  not  complete,  a  more  definite 
statement  of  his  method.  Briefly  stated,  his  plan  was, 
after  ridding  the  mind  of  its  prepossessions,  to  tabulate 
carefully  lists  of  all  the  facts  of  nature.  It  seemed  to 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


265 


him  a  comparatively  easy  task  to  make,  through  the 
cooperation  of  scientific  men,  a  complete  accumulation 
of  all  the  facts  of  science.  After  this  data  was  secured, 
the  next  step  would  be  to  discover  the  ‘  forms  ’  of  things, 
by  which  he  means  the  underlying  essence  or  law  of 
each  particular  quality  or  simple  nature.  Such  an  ab¬ 
straction  could  be  achieved  by  a  process  of  comparing 
the  cases  where  the  quality  appears  and  where  it  does 
not  appear  and  of  excluding  the  instances  that  fall  under 
both  heads  until  some  ‘  form  ’  is  clearly  present  only  when 
the  quality  is.  Then,  as  a  proof,  another  list  may  be 
drawn  up  where  the  quality  appears  in  different  degrees 
and  where  the  ‘  form  ’  should  vary  correspondingly. 

Solomon’s  House  and  the  Pansophic  Course. — A  de¬ 
scription  of  what  Bacon  thinks  may  be  expected  when 
this  scientific  method  is  systematically  carried  out  can 
be  found  in  his  fable  of  The  New  Atlantis.  The  in¬ 
habitants  of  this  mythical  island  are  described  as  having 
in  the  course  of  ages  created  a  state  in  which  ideal  sani¬ 
tary,  economic,  political,  and  social  conditions  obtained. 
The  most  important  institution  of  this  society  is  its 
1  Solomon’s  House,’  an  organization  in  which  the  mem¬ 
bers  devoted  themselves  to  scientific  research  and  in¬ 
vention,  and  in  their  supposed  investigations  Bacon 
anticipates  much  that  scientists  and  inventors  have  to¬ 
day  only  just  begun  to  realize.  He  represents  these 
Utopian  scientists  as  making  all  sorts  of  physical,  chemi¬ 
cal,  astronomical,  medical,  and  engineering  experiments 
and  discoveries,  including  the  artificial  production  of 
metals,  the  forcing  of  plants,  grafting  and  variation  of 
species,  the  infusion  of  serums,  vivisection,  telescopes, 
microphones,  telephones,  flying-machines,  submarine 
boats,  steam-engines,  and  perpetual-motion  machines. 

While  Bacon  was  not  a  teacher  and  nowhere  explicitly 
states  his  views  on  education,  it  would  seem  from  the 
description  of  ‘  Solomon’s  House  ’  as  if  this  English 
philosopher  must  have  believed  that  education  ought  to 
be  organized  upon  the  basis  of  society’s  gradually  accu¬ 
mulating  a  knowledge  of  nature  and  imparting  it  to  all 


The  mem¬ 
bers  of  ‘Solo¬ 
mon’s 
House  ’  on 
the  New 
Atlantis  de¬ 
vote  them¬ 
selves  to 
scientific 
research. 


Probably 
Bacon  be¬ 
lieved  that 
education 
should  have 
a  similar 
organization. 


266 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Bacon  prop¬ 
erly  rejected 
the  contem¬ 
porary  a 
priori 

method,  but, 
in  attempting 
to  put  all 
men  on  a 
level  in 
attaining 
truth,  he 
undertook 
too  much, 
and  made  a 
most 

mechanical 

procedure. 


pupils  at  every  stage,  as  far  as  they  could  comprehend 
it.  Such  certainly  was  the  plan  of  Ratich  and  Come- 
nius,  who  later  on  worked  out  the  Baconian  plans  in 
education,  and  this  dream  of  pansophia  (‘all  wisdom’) 
for  all  schools  was  ardently  desired  by  the  later  realists 
in  general  as  the  foundation  of  their  educational  organi¬ 
zation  and  of  their  course  of  study. 

The  Value  of  Bacon’s  Method.  —  In  estimating  the 
method  of  Bacon,  it  is  difficult  to  be  fair.  The  impor¬ 
tance  of  his  work  has  been  as  much  exaggerated  by 
some  as  it  has  been  undervalued  by  others.  He  reacted 
from  the  current  view  of  Aristotle’s  reasoning,  and, 
taking  his  cue  from  the  many  scientific  workers  of  his 
time,  formulated  a  new  method  in  opposition  to  what  he 
mistook  as  the  position  of  the  great  logician.  He  very 
properly  rejected  the  contemporary  method  of  attempting 
to  establish  a  priori  the  first  principles  of  a  science  and 
then  deduce  from  them  by  means  of  the  syllogism  all 
the  propositions  which  that  science  could  contain.  But 
in  endeavoring  to  create  a  method  whereby  any  one 
could  attain  all  the  knowledge  of  which  the  human  mind 
was  capable,  he  undertook  far  too  much.  His  effort  to 
put  all  men  on  a  level  in  reaching  truth  resulted  in  a 
most  mechanical  mode  of  procedure  and  neglected  the 
part  played  by  scientific  imagination  in  the  framing  of 
hypotheses.  Scientific  method  is  not  at  present  satisfied 
to  hold,  as  Bacon  did,  that  because  all  observed  cases 
under  certain  conditions  produce  a  particular  effect, 
every  other  instance  not  yet  observed  will  necessarily 
have  the  same  property  or  effect.  The  modern  proce¬ 
dure  is  rather  that,  when  certain  effects  are  observed,  of 
which  the  cause  or  law  is  unknown,  the  scientist  frames 
an  hypothesis  to  account  for  them  ;  then,  by  the  process  of 
deduction,  tries  this  on  the  facts  that  he  has  collected ;  and 
if  the  hypothesis  is  verified,  maintains  that  he  has  dis¬ 
covered  the  cause  or  law.  Yet  this  is  only  a  more  explicit 
statement  of  what  has  always  been  implied  in  every  pro¬ 
cess  of  reasoning.  The  method  had  certainly  been  used 
by  the  later  Greek  philosophers,  and  it,  as  well  as  the 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


2  67 


syllogism,  had  even  been  formulated  by  Aristotle,  al¬ 
though  this  part  of  his  work  was  not  known  in  Bacon’s 
day. 

Bacon  cannot,  therefore,  really  be  said  to  have  invented 
a  new  method.  It  is  also  evident  that  he  failed  to  ap¬ 
preciate  the  work  of  Aristotle  and  the  function  of  genius 
in  scientific  discovery.  But  he  did  largely  put  an  end 
to  the  vestigial  process  of  a  priori  reasoning,  and  he  did 
call  attention  to  the  necessity  of  careful  experimentation 
and  induction.  Probably  no  book  ever  made  a  greater 
revolution  in  modes  of  thinking  or  overthrew  more 
prejudices  than  Bacon’s  Novum  Organum.  It  represents 
the  culmination  of  the  reaction  that  had  been  growing 
up  through  the  Renaissance,  the  Reformation,  and  the 
earlier  realism. 

As  far  as  education  is  concerned,  while  not  skilled  or 
interested  in  the  work  himself,  Bacon  affected  profoundly 
the  writing  and  practice  of  many  who  were,  and  has 
done  much  to  shape  the  spirit  of  modern  education. 
His  method  was  first  applied  directly  to  education  by  a 
German  known  as  Ratich,  and,  in  a  more  effective  way, 
by  Comenius,  a  Moravian. 

RaticlPs  Attempts  at  School  Reform.  —  Wolfgang  von 
Rathe  (1571-1635),  generally  called  Ratich  from  an 
abbreviation  of  his  Latinized  name,1  was  born  in  Wilster, 
Holstein,  and  first  studied  for  the  ministry  at  the  Univer¬ 
sity  of  Rostock.  Later,  he  continued  his  studies  in 
England,  where  he  probably  became  acquainted  with  the 
work  of  Bacon.  Before  long,  realizing  that  he  had  an 
incurable  defect  in  speech  which  would  keep  him  from 
success  in  the  pulpit,  he  decided  to  devote  himself  to 
educational  reform.  He  planned  to  apply  the  principles 
of  Bacon  to  the  problems  of  education  in  general,  but 
he  intended  especially  to  reform  the  methods  of  language 
teaching. 

In  1612  Ratich  memorialized  the  imperial  diet,  while 
it  was  sitting  at  Frankfurt,  and  asked  for  an  investiga¬ 
tion  of  his  methods.  Two  professors  from  the  University 


Ratich  ap¬ 
plied  the 
Baconian 
method  to 
the  problems 
of  education, 
especially 
language 
teaching. 


1  I.e.  Ratichius. 


268 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


His  attempts 
to  apply  his 
principles 
were  uni¬ 
formly 

unsuccessful. 


His  claims 
concerning 
the  teaching 
of  languages, 
the  arts  and 
sciences,  and 
uniformity, 
seem 


of  Giessen  were  commissioned  to  examine  his  proposi¬ 
tions,  and  afterward  the  University  of  Jena  similarly  had 
four  of  its  staff  look  into  the  matter,  and  in  each  case  a 
favorable,  not  to  say  enthusiastic,  verdict  was  reached. 
When,  however,  on  the  strength  of  such  reports,  the 
town  council  of  Augsburg  gave  him  control  of  the  schools 
of  that  city,  he  was  not  able  to  justify  his  claims,  and 
the  arrangement  was  abandoned  at  the  end  of  a  year. 
Having  appealed  to  the  diet  again  without  encourage¬ 
ment,  Ratich  began  traveling  from  place  to  place,  trying 
to  interest  various  princes  or  cities  in  his  system.  He 
was  befriended  by  Dorothea,  Duchess  of  Weimar,  who 
induced  her  brother,  Prince  Ludwig  of  Anhalt-Kothen, 
to  provide  a  school  for  Ratich.  This  institution  was 
furnished  with  an  expensive  equipment,  including  a  large 
printing  plant ;  a  set  of  teachers  that  had  been  trained 
in  the  Ratichian  methods  and  sworn  to  secrecy  were 
engaged ;  and  some  five  hundred  school  children  of 
Kothen  were  started  on  this  royal  road  to  learning.  The 
experiment  lasted  only  eighteen  months,  and,  largely 
owing  to  Ratich’s  inexperience  as  a  schoolmaster,  was 
a  dismal  failure.  The  prince  was  so  enraged  at  his 
pecuniary  loss  and  the  ridiculous  light  in  which  he  was 
placed  that  he  threw  the  unhappy  reformer  into  prison, 
and  released  him  only  at  the  end  of  three  months  upon 
his  signing  a  statement  that  he  had  undertaken  more 
than  he  could  perform.  After  this,  Ratich  tried  his  hand 
at  Magdeburg,  where  he  failed  again,  mostly  as  the 
result  of  theological  differences,  and  then  was  enabled  to 
present  his  principles  to  Oxenstiern,  the  chancellor  of 
Sweden,  but  he  never  really  recovered  from  his  dis¬ 
appointment  in  Kothen,  and  died  of  paralysis  in  Erfurt 
before  he  could  hear  from  Stockholm. 

His  Claims. — Although  there  was  considerable  merit 
in  the  principles  of  Ratich,  he  had  many  of  the  ear¬ 
marks  of  a  mountebank.  Such  may  be  considered  his 
constant  attempts  to^  keep  his  methods  a  profound 
secret,  and  the  spectacular  ways  he  had  of  presenting  the 
ends  they  were  bound  to  accomplish.  In  writing  the 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


269 


diet,  he  promised  by  means  of  his  system :  —  first,  to 
teach  young  or  old  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  without  dif¬ 
ficulty  and  in  a  shorter  time  than  was  ordinarily  devoted 
to  any  one  language ;  secondly,  to  introduce  schools  in 
which  all  arts  and  sciences  should  be  thoroughly  taught 
and  extended ;  and,  lastly,  to  establish  uniformity  in 
speech,  religion,  and  government.  As  Ratich  stated 
them,  these  claims  seem  decidedly  extravagant,  but  as 
far  as  he  expected  to  carry  them  out,  they  were  but  the 
natural  aims  of  an  education  based  upon  realism  and 
the  Baconian  method. 

His  Realistic  Methods  of  Teaching  Languages  and  Other 
Subjects. —  The  rules  of  procedure  used  by  Ratich  and 
his  disciples  have  been  extracted  by  Von  Raumer  from 
a  work  on  the  Ratichian  methods  published  after  the 
system  had  become  somewhat  known.1  In  linguistic 
training  he  insisted,  like  all  realists,  that  one  “  should 
first  study  the  vernacular  ”  as  an  introduction  to  other 
languages.  He  also  held  to  the  principle  of  “one  thing 
at  a  time  and  often  repeated.”  By  this  he  meant  that, 
in  studying  a  language,  one  should  master  a  single  book. 
At  Kothen,  as  soon  as  the  children  knew  their  letters, 
they  were  required  to  learn  Genesis  thoroughly  for  the 
sake  of  their  German.  Each  chapter  was  read  twice  by 
the  teacher,  while  the  pupils  followed  the  text  with  their 
finger.  When  they  could  read  the  book  perfectly,  they 
were  taught  grammar  from  it  as  a  text.  The  teacher 
pointed  out  the  various  parts  of  speech  and  made  the 
children  find  other  examples,  and  then  had  them  decline, 
conjugate,  and  parse.  In  taking  up  Latin,  a  play  of 
Terence  was  used  in  a  similar  fashion.  A  translation 
was  read  to  the  pupils  several  times  before  they  were 
shown  the  original ;  then  the  Latin  was  translated  to 
them  from  the  text ;  next,  the  class  was  drilled  in  gram¬ 
mar  ;  and  finally,  the  boys  were  required  to  turn  German 
sentences  into  Latin  after  the  style  of  Terence.  This 
method  may  have  produced  a  high  degree  of  concen- 

1  Methodus  Institutionis  Nova  Ratichii  tt  Ratichianorum,  published 
by  Johannes  Rhenius  at  Leipzig  in  1626. 


extravagant, 
but  were  in 
keeping  with 
realism. 


"  First  study 
the  vernacu¬ 
lar  ”  and 
“  one  thing 
at  a  time  ” 
were  the 
principles 
back  of  his 
practice  at 
Kothen. 


270 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


His  other 
principles. 


Ratich 
anticipated 
much  of 
modern 
pedagogy, 
but  because 
of  charlatan¬ 
ism,  inex¬ 
perience, 
and  the 
opposition 
of  others,  he 
failed  to 
carry  out  his 
principles. 


tration,  but  it  was  liable  to  result  in  monotony  and  want 
of  interest,  unless  skillfully  administered. 

Another  methodological  formulation  of  Ratich’s, 
whereby  he  insisted  upon  “uniformity  and  harmony  in 
all  things,”  must  have  been  of  especial  value  in  teaching 
the  grammar  of  different  languages,  where  the  methods 
and  even  the  terminology  are  often  so  diverse.  Simi¬ 
larly,  his  idea  that  one  should  “learn  first  the  thing  and 
then  its  explanation,”  which  was  his  way  of  advising 
that  the  details  and  exceptions  be  deferred  until  the 
entire  outline  of  a  subject  is  well  in  hand,  would  un¬ 
doubtedly  save  a  pupil  from  much  confusion  in  acquiring 
a  new  language.  And  some  of  his  other  principles, 
which  applied  to  education  in  general,  are  even  more 
distinctly  realistic.  For  example,  he  laid  down  the  pre¬ 
cept,  “follow  the  order  of  nature.”  Although  his  idea 
of  ‘nature’  was  rather  hazy,  and  his  methods  often  con¬ 
sisted  in  making  fanciful  analogies  with  natural  phe¬ 
nomena,  yet  his  injunction  to  make  nature  the  guide 
seems  to  point  the  way  to  realism.  Moreover,  his  atti¬ 
tude  on  “  everything  by  experiment  and  induction,” 
which  completely  repudiates  all  authority,  went  even 
farther  and  quite  out-Baconed  Bacon.  And  his  addi¬ 
tional  recommendation  that  “  nothing  is  to  be  learned  by 
rote”  looked  in  the  same  direction.  Finally,  these  real¬ 
istic  methods  were  naturally  accompanied  by  the  humane 
injunction  of  “nothing  by  compulsion.” 

The  Educational  Influence  of  Ratich. — Thus  Ratich 
not  only  helped  shape  some  of  the  best  methods  for 
teaching  languages,  but  he  also  anticipated  many  of  the 
main  principles  of  modern  pedagogy.  In  carrying  out 
his  ideas,  however,  he  was  uniformly  unsuccessful.  This 
was  somewhat  due  to  his  charlatan  method  of  presenta¬ 
tion,  but  more  because  of  errors  in  his  principles,  his 
want  of  training  and  experience  as  a  teacher,  and  the 
impatience,  jealousy,  and  conservatism  of  others.  He 
must  have  been  regarded  by  his  contemporaries  in  gen¬ 
eral  as  a  complete  failure,  whenever  they  contrasted  his 
promises  with  his  performances.  Nevertheless,  it  is 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION  27 1 

clear  that  he  stirred  up  considerable  thought  and  had  a 
wide  influence.  He  won  a  great  many  converts  to  his 
principles,  and,  through  the  texts  and  treatises  written 
as  a  result  of  the  movement  he  stimulated,  his  ideas 
were  largely  perpetuated  and  expanded.  In  the  next 
generation  came  Comenius,  who  carried  out  practically 
all  the  principles  of  Ratich  more  fully,  and  thus,  in  a 
way,  the  German  innovator,  unpractical  as  he  was,  be¬ 
came  a  sort  of  spiritual  ancestor  to  Pestalozzi,  Froebel, 
and  Herbart. 

The  Education  and  Earliest  Work  of  Comenius. — Jaii 
Amos  Komensky  (1592-1671),  better  known  by  his  Lat¬ 
inized  name  of  Comenius ,  was  born  at  Nivnitz,  a  village 
of  Moravia.  He  was,  by  religious  inheritance,  a  de¬ 
voted  adherent  of  the  Protestant  sect  called  Moravian 
Brethren }  While  he  became  bishop  of  the  Moravians, 
and  devoted  many  of  his  writings  to  religion  or  theo¬ 
logical  polemics,  this  does  not  concern  us  here,  except 
as  it  affected  his  attitude  as  an  educational  reformer  and 
a  sense  realist.  In  his  schooling,  as  the  result  of  careless 
guardianship  of  his  inheritance,  Comenius  did  not  come 
to  the  study  of  Latin,  the  all-important  subject  in  his  day, 
until  he  was  sixteen.  This  delay  must,  however,  be  re¬ 
garded  as  most  fortunate  for  education,  as  his  maturity 
enabled  him  to  perceive  the  amount  of  time  then  wasted 
upon  grammatical  complications  and  other  absurdities  in 
teaching  languages,  and  was  instrumental  in  causing  him 
to  undertake  an  improvement  of  method.  After  his 
course  in  the  Latin  school,  Comenius  spent  a  couple  of 
years  in  higher  education  in  the  Lutheran  College  of 
Herborn  in  the  duchy  of  Nassau,2  where  he  went  to 

1  The  Moravian  or  Bohemian  Church,  officially  known  as  Unitas 
Fratrum ,  is  generally  considered  Lutheran  in  doctrine,  but  its  religious 
descent  goes  back  of  Luther’s  time  to  the  Bohemian  martyr,  Huss,  and 
it  has  always  preserved  a  separate  organization.  There  are  now  three 
‘  provinces  ’  of  Moravians,  the  German,  British,  and  American.  They 
number  in  all  about  thirty-five  thousand  members,  of  whom  some  twenty 
thousand  are  in  the  United  States. 

2  The  University  of  Prague,  to  which  Comenius  would  naturally  have 
gone,  was  at  this  time  in  the  control  of  the  Utraquists,  a  Hussite  sect 
opposed  to  the  Moravians. 


Comenius 
was  trained 
in  a  Latin 
school  and  at 
Herborn. 


272 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


He  taught 
at  Prerau 
and  wrote 
his  Easier 
Grammar. 


In  th z  Janua, 
the  first  of 
his  remark¬ 
able  series  of 
texts  on  the 
study  of 
Latin,  he 
was  influ¬ 
enced  by 
Ratich  and 
Bateus. 


prepare  for  the  ministry  of  his  denomination,  and  at 
the  University  of  Heidelberg.  Then,  as  he  was 
still  rather  young  for  the  cares  of  the  pastorate,  he 
taught  for  four  years  (1614-1618)  in  the  school  at 
Prerau,  Moravia.  Here  he  soon  made  his  first  attempt 
at  a  simplification  of  Latin  teaching  by  the  production 
of  a  work  called  Grammaticce  Facilioris  Prcecepta 
(‘Precepts  of  Easier  Grammar’).  Next  (1618-1621) 
he  became  pastor  at  Fulneck,  and,  after  a  series  of  per¬ 
secutions,  resulting  from  the  Thirty  Years’  War,  dur¬ 
ing  which  he  and  his  fellow  pastors  were  driven  from 
pillar  to  post,  he  settled  in  1627  at  the  Polish  town 
of  Leszno.1 

The  Janua  Linguarum.  —  This  place  became  the  cen¬ 
ter  from  which  most  of  his  great  contributions  to  edu¬ 
cation  emanated.  During  his  residence  of  fourteen 
years  as  rector  of  the  Moravian  Gymnasium  here,  he 
accomplished  many  reforms  in  the  schools,  and  began 
to  embody  his  ideas  in  a  series  of  remarkable  textbooks. 
The  first  of  these  works  was  produced  in  1631,  and  has 
generally  been  known  by  the  name  of  Janua  Linguarum 
Reserata  (‘Gate  of  Languages  Unlocked’).  It  was  in¬ 
tended  as  an  introductory  book  to  the  study  of  Latin,2 
and  consisted  of  an  arrangement  into  sentences  of  sev¬ 
eral  thousand  Latin  words  for  the  most  familiar  objects 
and  ideas.  The  Latin  was  printed  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  page,  and  on  the  left  was  given  a  translation 
in  the  vernacular.  By  this  means  the  pupil  obtained  a 
grasp  of  all  ordinary  knowledge  and  at  the  same  time  a 
start  in  his  Latin  vocabulary.  In  writing  this  text, 
Comenius  may  have  been  somewhat  influenced  by  Ra¬ 
tich,  the  criticism  of  whose  methods  by  the  professors 
at  Giessen3  he  had  read  while  at  Herborn,4but  he  seems 
to  have  been  more  specifically  indebted  both  for  his 

1  This  town,  now  called  Lissa,  is  a  part  of  Prussia. 

2  In  the  first  edition  it  was  called  Janua  Lingua  Latina  Reserata. 

8  See  pp.  267  f. 

4  As,  however,  Ratich  had  failed  to  answer  the  letter  of  inquiry  he  wrote 
him  from  Leszno,  Comenius  must  have  largely  worked  out  the  plan  inde¬ 
pendently. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


273 


method  and  the  felicitous  name  of  his  book  to  a 
Jesuit  known  as  Bateus,1  who  had  written  a  similar 
work. 

The  Vestibulum,  Atrium ,  Orbis  Pictus,  and  Other  Janual 
Texts.  —  It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  yanua  would  be 
too  difficult  for  beginners,  and  two  years  later  Comenius 
issued  his  Vestibulum  (‘Vestibule’)  as  an  introduction  to 
it.  While  the  yanua  contained  all  the  ordinary  words  of 
the  language,  —  some  eight  thousand,  —  there  were  but  a 
few  hundred  of  the  most  common  in  the  Vestibulum. 
Both  of  the  works,  however,  were  several  times  revised, 
modified,  and  enlarged.  Also  grammars,  lexicons,  and 
treatises  to  accompany  them  were  written  during  later 
periods  of  Comenius’  literary  career.  Much  work  of 
this  sort  was  done  between  1642  and  1650.  During 
this  period  Comenius  had  accepted  the  invitation  of 
Sweden  to  settle,  under  the  patronage  of  his  friend, 
Ludovic  De  Geer,  at  Elbing,  a  quiet  town  on  the 
Baltic,  and  develop  his  ideas  on  method  and  school 
improvement.  Here  the  Vestibulum  and  yanua  were 
revised,2  and  the  third  of  his  Latin  readers,  the  Atrium 
(‘Entrance  Hall’),3  which  took  the  pupil  one  stage 
beyond  the  yanua,  was  probably  started.  But  the 
Atrium  was  not  finished  and  published  until  Comenius 
began  his  residence  of  four  years  at  Saros-Patak,  where 
he  was  in  1650  urged  by  the  prince  of  Transylvania  to 
come  and  reform  the  schools  of  the  country. 

From  his  description  of  an  ideal  school  for  Patak,4 
and  from  other  works,  it  is  known  that  he  intended  also 

1  Batty  or  Bateus  was  an  Irishman,  although  at  the  College  of  Salamanca 
in  Spain.  Comenius  makes  acknowledgments  to  him  in  the  Janua ,  but 
says  his  ideas  had  been  outlined  some  time  before  his  attention  was  called 
to  the  book  of  the  Jesuit  father. 

2  In  Elbing  the  Methodus  Linguarum  Novissima  (‘  Latest  Method  in 
Languages’),  which  outlines  his  idea  of  the  purpose  and  principles  of 
language  teaching,  together  with  several  other  didactic  works,  was  also 
produced. 

3  When  planning  this  work  in  the  Didactica  Magna  (Chapter  XXII, 
19  and  22-24),  he  refers  to  it  as  Palatium ,  and  the  fourth  book,  after¬ 
ward  called  Palatium ,  he  there  speaks  of  as  Thesaurus. 

4  Scholce  Pansophicce  Delineatio. 


The  Vestibu¬ 
lum  was  an 
introduction 
to  th  z.  Janua  ; 
the  Atrium, 
a  third  book ; 
the  Pala¬ 
tium,  a 
fourth;  the 
Orbis  Pictus, 
an  edition  of 
the  Janua 
with  pic¬ 
tures  ;  and 
the  Schola 
Ludus,  a 
dramatized 
Janua. 


274 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Didac¬ 
tic  a  gives 
his  princi¬ 
ples,  organi¬ 
zation,  con¬ 
tent,  and 
methods  of 
education. 


to  write  a  fourth 1  work  in  the  Janual  series,  but  he  never 
completed  it.  This  was  to  be  known  as  Sapientice 
Palatium  (‘Palace  of  Wisdom’),  and  was  to  consist  of 
selections  from  Caesar,  Sallust,  Cicero,  and  others  of  the 
best  prose  writers.  While  in  Patak,  however,  Comenius 
did  write  two  supplementary  textbooks,  the  Orbis  Sen - 
sualium  Pictus  (‘  The  World  of  Sense  Objects  Pictured  ’) 
and  the  Schola  Ltidas  (‘School  Plays’).  The  latter, 
which  is  an  attempt  to  dramatize  the  Janua ,  soon  fell 
into  disuse,  but  the  former,  in  which  Comenius  applied 
his  principles  of  sense  realism  more  fully  than  in  any 
other  of  his  readers,  remained  a  very  popular  text  for 
two  centuries,  and  is  most  typical  of  the  Comenian  prin¬ 
ciples.  It  is  practically  an  edition  of  the  Janua  accom¬ 
panied  with  pictures,  but  is  simpler  and  more  extensive 
than  the  first  issue  of  that  book.  Each  object  in  a  pic¬ 
ture  is  marked  with  a  number  corresponding  to  one  in  the 
text.2  It  is  the  first  illustrated  reading-book  on  record. 

The  Didactica  Magna.  —  Thus  throughout  his  life 
Comenius  was  more  or  less  engaged  at  every  period  in 
writing  texts  for  the  study  of  Latin.  But  these  books 
connected  with  method  were  only  a  part  of  the  work  he 
contemplated.  During  his  whole  career  he  had  in  mind 
a  complete  system  of  the  principles  of  education,  and  of 
what,  in  consequence,  he  wished  the  organization,  sub¬ 
ject  matter,  and  methods  to  be.  His  ideas  on  the  whole 
question  of  education  were  early  formulated  at  Leszno 
in  his  Didactica  Magna 3  (‘  Great  Didactic  ’).  While 


1  It  would  be  the  fifth,  if  we  should  count  the  unimportant  Auctarium 
(‘ Supplement ’),  which  he  afterward  (1656)  produced  in  Amsterdam  and 
inserted  between  the  Vesiibulum  and  the  Janua. 

2  The  reprint  of  the  English  edition,  published  by  Bardeen  (Syracuse, 
1887),  should  be  consulted.  This  method  of  presentation  is  referred  to 
by  Comenius  as  early  as  the  Vestibulum  as  a  desirable  one,  which  at  that 
time  could  not  be  carried  out  for  lack  of  a  skillful  engraver.  It  may  have 
been  suggested  to  Comenius  in  the  first  instance  by  a  Greek  Testament 
edited  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  a  Professor  Lubinus  of  the 
University  of  Rostock. 

3  This  is  a  singular,  the  noun  ars  being  understood.  The  original  title 
has  in  it  over  one  hundred  words,  beginning  Didactica  Magna;  Omnes 
Omnia  Docendi  Exhibens.  For  a  translation  of  the  entire  title,  see  Kea- 
tinge,  The  Great  Didactic  of  Comenius ,  p.  155. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


275 

this  work  has  many  original  features  and  is  more  care¬ 
fully  worked  out  than  anything  similar,  Comenius 
frankly  recognizes  his  obligations  to  many  who  have 
written  previously.  In  fact,  he  rather  strove  to  assimi¬ 
late  all  that  was  good  in  the  realistic  movement  and  use 
it  as  a  foundation.  In  this  way  the  Didactica  may  be 
said  to  develop  many  of  the  scientific  principles  and 
methods  found  in  Vives,1  Bateus,  Ratich,  Andreae,2 
Frey,3  and  Bodinus,4  but  it  owes  a  greater  debt  for  its 
pansophic  basis  of  education  to  the  works  of  Bacon  and 
even  more  to  the  Encyclopedia  of  Johann  Heinrich 
Alsted,  under  whom  Comenius  had  studied  at  Herborn. 
The  Didactica  seems  to  have  been  completed  in  the 
Moravian  dialect5  about  the  time  the  Janua  first  ap¬ 
peared,  and  must  have  been  contemplated  somewhat 
earlier.  Hence,  while  this  work  was  not  translated  into 
Latin  and  published  until  1657,  and  was  never  printed 
in  the  language  in  which  it  was  originally  written  until 
a  century  and  three  quarters  after  the  death  of  its 
author,  the  point  of  view  must  have  been  established 
even  before  Comenius  came  to  Leszno,  and  influenced 
him  throughout  his  career. 

The  Didactica  as  the  Basis  of  All  the  Work  of  Comenius. — 

The  rest  of  the  books  of  Comenius  may  be  regarded 
as  amplifications  of  certain  parts  of  the  Didactica.  To 
make  his  instructions  on  infant  training  more  explicit, 
while  still  at  Leszno,  he  wrote  the  Informatorium  Skoly 
Materske  (‘  Handbook  of  the  Mother  School’).6  He  also 

1  See  p.  166. 

2  Johann  Valentin  Andreae  (1586-1654),  court  preacher  at  Stuttgart, 
attacked  the  formal  religion  and  education  of  the  time  in  numerous 
pamphlets. 

3  Janus  Caecilius  Frey  (  ?— 1 63 1)  was  a  German  educationalist,  living  in 
Paris,  who  produced  a  number  of  practical  works. 

4  Jean  Bodin  (1530-1596)  was  a  French  writer  on  political  theory,  who 
published  also  an  unusual  educational  treatise  called  Mcthodus  ad  facilem 
historiarum  cogtiitionem. 

6  Czech  was  spoken  in  Moravia. 

6  This  work  was  written  first  in  Czech,  although  not  published  in  that 
dialect  for  two  centuries  and  a  quarter.  It  was  issued  in  German  in  1633, 
and  in  Latin  in  1657.  Will  S.  Monroe  has  translated  the  Latin  edition 
into  English  under  the  title  of  The  School  of  Infancy  (Boston,  1896). 


It  owes  much 
to  the  works 
of  Bacon,  the 
Encyclopae¬ 
dia  of  Alsted, 
and  the  writ¬ 
ings  of  many 
others. 


The  Didac¬ 
tica  was 
made  ex¬ 
plicit  in  the 
Mother 
School ,  the 
vernacular 
series,  and 
the  Janual 
series. 


276 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


His  attempts 
at  ‘  pan¬ 
sophia. ’ 


His  pan- 
sophic  mate¬ 
rials  burned 
at  Leszno. 


supplemented  the  Didactica  with  a  set  of  texts  for  the 
‘vernacular  school’  similar  to  the  Janual  series,  which 
were  intended  for  the  ‘Latin  School’ ;  but,  being  written 
in  an  obscure  dialect,  these  vernacular  works  were  never 
revised  and  soon  disappeared.1  But  the  phase  of  the 
Didactica  most  often  elaborated  both  in  his  other  works 
and  in  his  school  organization  was  the  realistic  one  of 
pansophia  (‘universal  knowledge’).  This  was  most  mani¬ 
fest  in  his  desire  to  teach  at  least  the  rudiments  of  all 
things  to  every  one.  It  has  already  been  seen  how  this 
principle  was  emphasized  in  his  textbooks,  such  as  the 
Janna  and  the  Or  bis  Pieties.  Also,  after  producing 
treatises  upon  Astronomy  and  Physics ,  he  wrote,  while 
at  Leszno  and  Elbing,  several  works  specifically  on  pan¬ 
sophia ,  of  which  the  Janua  Rerum  Res erata  (‘  Gate  of 
Things  Unlocked’)  is  the  most  systematic  and  complete. 
These  works,  while  diluted  by  traditional  conceptions 
but  little  beyond  those  of  scholasticism,2  show  how  far 
Comenius  had  advanced  beyond  previous  attempts  by 
organizing  his  data  about  large  principles,  instead  of 
merely  accumulating  facts.  Further,  in  his  Didactica 
he  recommends  that  a  great  College  of  Pansophy,  or 
scientific  research,3  be  established,  and  in  1641,  just 
before  his  call  to  Sweden,  he  went  to  England,  at  the 
invitation  of  Parliament,  to  start  an  institution  of  this 
character  there.  At  Patak  he  even  undertook  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  pansophic  school  of  secondary  grade,  as  outlined 
in  his  Pansophicce  Scholcz  Delineatio  (‘  Plan  of  a  Panso¬ 
phic  School’). 

Pansophia  a  Ruling  Passion  with  Comenius.  —  This 

idea  of  pansophia  seems  to  have  been  most  keen  and 
vivid  with  Comenius  all  his  life,  but  he  was  always  pre- 


1  The  names  of  these  texts,  as  he  gives  them  in  his  Scholce  Vernaculce 
Delineatio ,  were  Violarium  (‘Violet-bed’),  Rosarium  (‘Rose-bed’), 
Viridarium  (‘  Grass-plot  ’),  Labyrinthus  (‘  Labyrinth  ’),  Balsamentum 
(‘Balsam-bed’),  and  Paradisus  Animce  (‘Paradise  of  the  Soul’).  Cf. 
also  the  Didactica ,  Chapter  XXIX,  n. 

2  For  example,  with  Comenius  the  constituents  of  the  universe  are 
reduced  to  matter,  spirit,  and  light. 

8  He  calls  it  a  collcgumi  didacticum.  See  p.  280. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


2  77 


vented  from  undertaking  it  to  any  extent  by  one  accident 
or  another,  and  was  doomed  to  constant  disappointment. 
Finally,  shortly  after  his  return  from  Patak,  when  Leszno 
was  burned  by  the  Poles,1  Comenius  barely  escaped  with 
his  life,  and  his  silva,  or  collection  of  pansophic  mate¬ 
rials,  upon  which  he  had  worked  for  forty  years,  was 
completely  destroyed.  He  was  now  in  his  sixty-fifth 
year  and  had  not  the  strength  or  courage  to  pursue  his 

favorite  conception  further. 

The  Threefold  Aim  of  Education.  —  While  mystic  and 
narrow  at  times,  Comenius  was  a  sincere  Christian,  and 
his  view  of  life  is  most  consistently  carried  out  in  his 
conception  of  education.  He  hoped  for  a  complete 
regeneration  of  mankind  through  an  embodiment  of 
religion  in  the  purpose  of  education.  This  educational 
aim  is  shown  in  the  following  propositions,  which  he 
develops  in  successive  chapters  of  the  Didactical 


«  ('I')  Man  is  the  highest,  the  most  absolute,  and  the  most  excel¬ 
lent  of  things  created;  (II)  the  ultimate  end  of  man  is  beyond  this 
life-  (III)  this  life  is  but  a  preparation  for  eternity;  (IV)  there 
are ’three  stages  in  the  preparation  for  eternity:  to  know  onese  f 
(and  with  oneself  all  things),  to  rule  oneself,  and  to  direct  oneself 
to  God; 2  (V)  the  seeds  of  these  three  (learning,  virtue,  religion8) 
are  naturally  implanted  in  us ;  (VI)  if  a  man  is  to  be  produced,  it 
is  necessary  that  he  be  formed  by  education. 


Thus,  from  his  religious  conception  of  society,  Come¬ 
nius  works  out  as  his  aim  of  education  knowledge , 
morality ,  and  piety ,  and  makes  these  ideals  go  an  m 
hand.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  his  ideas  about 
what  constitutes  religion  have  advanced  a  long  way 


Education 
should  aim 
at  knowl¬ 
edge,  moral¬ 
ity,  and 
piety. 


The  lower 
nature 
should  be 
controlled 
by  the 
higher. 


1  The  Moravians,  who  had  suffered  so  severely  from  the  Catholics  dur¬ 
ing  the  Thirty  Years’  War,  were  in  secret  sympathy  with  the  Protestant 
Swedes  during  their  invasion  of  Poland.  After  the 

and  several  towns,  including  Leszno,  were  ceded  to  s*^en>  P*™ ;nj“J 
foolishly  published  a  letter  of  congratulation  to  the  Swedish  king,  Charles 
Gustavus,  and  in  retaliation,  the  Poles  attacked  Leszno  and  P^nderedlL 

2  In  the  original,  Sc  et  secum  omnia ,  Nosse;  Reger e,  et  ad  De 

“  Self-reverence,  self-knowledge,  self-control,  —  ^ 

These  three  alone  lead  life  to  sovereign  power. 

—  Tennyson’s  Cbnone. 

3  I.e.  eruditio,  virtus  sen  mores  hones'as ,  religio  sen  pi  etas. 


278 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


There 
should  be 
one  system 
of  schools 
for  all. 


The  ‘  school 
of  the  moth¬ 
er’s  lap,’  the 
‘  vernacular 
school/ 
the  1  Latin 
school/ 
and  the 
1  academy/ 


beyond  those  of  mediaeval  times.  He  regards  educa¬ 
tion  not  as  a  means  of  ridding  oneself  of  all  natural 
instincts,  and  of  exalting  the  soul  by  degrading  the 
body,  but  as  a  system  for  controlling  the  lower  nature 
by  the  higher  through  a  mental,  moral,  and  religious 
training.  Education  should  enable  one  to  become  pious 
through  the  establishment  of  moral  habits,  which  are 
in  turn  to  be  formed  and  guided  through  adequate 
knowledge. 

Universal  Education.  —  But  as  with  Comenius  educa¬ 
tion  is  to  prepare  us  to  live  as  human  beings,  rather 
than  to  fit  us  for  station,  rank,  or  occupation,  he  further 
holds :  — 

“  (VIII)  The  young  must  be  educated  in  common,  and  for  this 
schools  are  necessary  ;  (IX)  all  the  young  of  both  sexes  should  be 
sent  to  school.” 

Under  these  headings  he  shows  that,  while  the  parents 
are  responsible  for  the  education  of  their  children,  it 
has  been  necessary  to  set  aside  a  special  class  of  people 
for  teachers  and  to  create  a  special  institution  known  as 
the  school,  and  that  there  should  be  one  system  of 
schools  for  all  alike,  —  “  boys  and  girls,  both  noble  and 
ignoble,  rich  and  poor,  in  all  cities  and  towns,  villages 
and  hamlets.’' 

The  Four  Periods  in  the  School  System.  —  Later  on,1 
the  Didactica  more  fully  describes  the  organization  that 
Comenius  believes  would  be  most  effective.  The  system 
should  consist  of  four  periods  of  six  years  each,  ranging 
from  birth  to  manhood.  The  first  period  of  instruction 
is  that  through  infancy,  which  lasts  up  to  the  age  of  six, 
and  the  school  is  that  of  the  ‘mother’s  lap.’2  Next 
comes  childhood,  which  continues  until  the  pupil  is 
twelve,  and  for  this  is  to  be  organized  the  ‘  vernacular,’ 
or  elementary,  school.  From  that  time  up  to  eighteen, 
comes  the  period  of  adolescence,  with  its  ‘  Latin,’  or 
secondary,  school.  Finally,  during  youth,  from  eighteen 
to  twenty-four,  the  ‘academy,’  or  university,  together 

1  Chapters  XXVII-XXXI. 

2  This  was  known  as  Schola  Materni  Gremii  in  the  Latin  translation. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


279 


with  travel,  should  be  the  means  of  education.  As  to 
the  distribution  and  scope  of  these  institutions,  Comenius 

declares :  — 

“  A  mother  school  should  exist  in  every  house,  a  vernacular  school 
in  every  hamlet  and  village,  a  Latin  school  in  every  city,  and  a  uni¬ 
versity  in  every  kingdom  or  in  every  province.  The  mother  school 
and  the  vernacular  school  embrace  all  the  young  of  both  sexes.  The 
Latin  school  gives  a  more  thorough  education  to  those  who  aspire 
higher  than  the  workshop  ;  while  the  university  trains  up  the  teachers 
and  learned  men  of  the  future,  that  our  churches,  schools,  and  states 
may  never  lack  suitable  leaders.” 

Hence  only  those  of  the  greatest  ability,  ‘  the  flower  of 
mankind,’  were  to  go  to  the  university.  “  A  public  ex- 
animation  should  be  held  for  the  students  who  leave  the 
Latin  school,  and  from  its  results  the  masters  may  decide 
which  of  them  should  be  sent  to  the  university  and  which 
should  enter  the  other  occupations  of  life.  Those  who  are 
selected  will  pursue  their  studies,  some  choosing  theol¬ 
ogy,  some  politics,  and  some  medicine,  in  accordance 
with  their  natural  inclination,  and  with  the  needs  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  State.’’ 

Such  an  organization  of  schools  as  that  suggested  by 
Comenius  would  tend  to  bring  about  the  custom  of 
educating  according  to  ability,  rather  than  social  status, 
and  would  thus  enable  any  people  to  secure  the  benefit 
of  all  their  genius.  It  was  a  genuine  Madder’  system  a ‘ladder’ 
of  education,  open  to  all  and  leading  from  the  kinder-  c^ucation# 
garten  through  the  university,  such  as  has  been  com¬ 
mended  by  Huxley  in  speaking  of  the  American  schools. 

At  the  day  that  Comenius  proposed  it,  this  organiza¬ 
tion  was  some  three  centuries  in  advance  of  the  times. 

Such  an  idea  of  equal  opportunities  for  all  could  have 
been  possible  in  the  seventeenth  century  only  as  the 
educational  outgrowth  of  a  religious  attitude  like  that  of 
Comenius,  and  may  well  have  been  promoted  in  his 
case  by  the  simple  democratic  spirit  of  the  little  band  ot 
Christians  whose  leader  he  was.1 

1  In  the  old  cemeteries  of  the  Moravian  communities  in  the  United 
States,  the  departed  lie  side  by  side  without  distinction  in  regard  to 


280 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


A  coopera¬ 
tive  college 
of  investiga¬ 
tion  known 
as  a  ‘  Schola 
Scholarum.’ 


This  pan- 
sophic  col¬ 
lege  was  to 
form  a  logi¬ 
cal  climax  to 
the  system  of 
schools. 


The  College  of  Pansophia.  —  But  beyond  the  university, 
which,  like  the  lower  schools,  was  to  make  teaching  its 
chief  function,  Comenius  held  it  to  be  important  that 
somewhere  in  the  world  there  should  be  a  Schola  Scho¬ 
larum  or  Collegium  Didacticum ,  which  should  be  devoted 
to  scientific  investigation.  Through  this  pansophic 
college,  learned  men  from  all  nations  might  cooperate, 
and,  he  holds,  — 

“  These  men  should  .  .  .  spread  the  light  of  wisdom  throughout 
the  human  race  with  greater  success  than  has  hitherto  been  attained, 
and  benefit  humanity  by  new  and  useful  inventions.  For  this  no 
single  man  and  no  single  generation  is  sufficient,  and  it  is  therefore 
essential  that  the  work  be  carried  on  by  many,  working  together  and 
employing  the  researches  of  their  predecessors  as  a  starting-point.” 

Encyclopaedic  Course  at  Every  Stage.  —  This  plan  of  a 
*  Universal  College’  for  research  would  seem  to  be  a 
natural  product  of  the  pansophic  ideal,  which  has  been 
seen 1  to  dominate  all  of  the  educational  theory  of  Come¬ 
nius.  Such  an  institution  would  form  a  logical  climax 
to  his  system  of  schools,  bearing,  as  he  says,  the  same 
relation  to  them  that  the  stomach  does  to  the  other 
members  of  the  body  by  “supplying  blood,  life,  and 
strength  to  all,”  for  he  holds  that  a  training  in  all  sub¬ 
jects  should  be  given  at  every  stage  of  education.  Such 
universal  knowledge,  however,  Comenius  believes,  should 
be  given  only  in  outline  at  first,  and  then  more  and  more 
elaborately  and  thoroughly  as  education  proceeds.  The 
Didactica ,  accordingly,  states  :  — 

“These  different  schools  are  not  to  deal  with  different  subjects, 
but  should  treat  the  same  subjects  in  different  ways,  giving  instruc¬ 
tion  in  all  that  can  produce  true  men,  true  Christians,  and  true 
scholars ;  throughout  graduating  the  instruction  to  the  age  of  the 
pupil  and  the  knowledge  that  he  already  possesses.  ...  In  the 
earlier  schools  everything  is  taught  in  a  general  and  undefined  man¬ 
ner,  while  in  those  that  follow  the  information  is  particularized  and 

position,  wealth,  or  color.  The  tombstones  are  laid  flat  upon  the  graves, 
and  are  exactly  alike,  except  for  size,  so  that  none  in  this  Christian  family 
may  appear  more  prominent  than  the  other.  A  similar  interpretation  of 
the  Master’s  ‘  brotherhood  of  man  ’  is  evidenced  in  all  the  Moravian 
social  life.  1  See  pp.  276  f. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


28l 


exact ;  just  as  a  tree  puts  forth  more  branches  and  shoots  each  suc¬ 
cessive  year,  and  grows  stronger  and  more  fruitful.”  1 

The  Training  of  the  Mother  School.  —  In  later  chapters 
of  the  Didactica  and  in  his  works  for  the  special  stages, 
Comenius  gives  the  details  of  the  pansophic  training  in 
each  period  of  education.  Even  in  the  mother  school, 
it  is  expected  that  the  infant  shall  be  taught  geography, 
history,  and  various  sciences ;  grammar,  rhetoric,  and 
dialectic;  music,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy; 
and  the  rudiments  of  economics,  politics,  ethics,  meta¬ 
physics,  and  religion,  as  well  as  encouraged  in  sports  and 
the  construction  of  buildings.  The  attainment  at  this 
stage  is,  of  course,  not  expected  to  be  as  formidable  as 
the  names  of  the  subjects  sound.  It  is  to  consist  merely 
in  understanding  simple  causal,  temporal,  spatial,  and 
numerical  relations ;  in  distinguishing  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  hills,  valleys,  lakes,  and  rivers,  and  animals  and 
plants ;  in  learning  to  express  oneself,  and  in  acquiring 
proper  habits.  It  is,  in  fact,  very  much  like  the  train¬ 
ing  of  the  modern  kindergarten. 

The  Course  of  the  Vernacular  School.  —  Similarly,  the 
vernacular  school  is  to  afford  more  advanced  instruction 
in  all  literature,  morals,  and  religion  that  will  be  of  value 
throughout  life,  in  case  the  pupil  can  go  no  further. 
The  course  is  to  include,  beside  the  elements,  morals, 
religion,  and  music,  everyday  civil  government  and 
economics,  history  and  geography,  with  especial  reference 
to  the  pupil’s  own  country,  and  a  general  knowledge  of 
the  mechanic  arts.  All  these  studies  are  to  be  given  in 
the  native  tongue,  since  it  would  take  too  long  to  acquire 
the  Latin,  and  those  who  are  to  go  on  will  learn  Latin 
more  readily  for  having  a  wide  knowledge  of  things  to 
which  they  have  simply  to  apply  new  names  instead  of 
those  of  the  vernacular. 

The  Course  of  the  Latin  School. — The  Latin  School, 
while  including  four  languages, — the  vernacular,  Latin, 

1  Chapter  XXVII,  4-5.  This  is  practically  the  modern  German  method 
of  teaching,  known  as  that  of  ‘  concentric  circles.’ 


Even  the 
course  in 
the  mother 
school  is  to 
be  pan¬ 
sophic. 


So  the  ver¬ 
nacular 
school  is  to 
afford  in¬ 
struction  in 
all  subjects, 
in  case  the 
pupil  can  go 
no  farther. 


282 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  Latin 
school 
offers  four 
languages, 
but  con¬ 
tinues  this 
encyclopae¬ 
dic  training. 


In  the  uni¬ 
versity  each 
student 
should 
devote  him¬ 
self  to  a 
specialty, 
but  a  few 
should  pur¬ 
sue  all 
branches. 


Greek,  and  Hebrew,  is  also  to  continue  this  encyclopae¬ 
dic  training.  The  seven  liberal  arts  are  to  be  taught  in 
more  formal  fashion,  and  considerable  work  is  to  be 
given  in  physics,  geography,  chronology,  history,  ethics, 
and  theology.  In  his  description  of  the  pansophic 
school  that  he  undertook  to  establish  at  Patak,  Comenius 
gives  an  even  more  specific  account  of  the  range  of 
knowledge  that  should  be  gained  in  secondary  educa¬ 
tion.  He  maps  out  seven  classes,  of  which  the  first 
three  are  to  be  called  ‘philological,’  and  the  other  four 
to  be  known  as  ‘philosophical,’  ‘logical,’  ‘political,’  and 
‘theological’  respectively.  In  the  philological  grades,  he 
indicates  that  Latin  is  to  be  taught;  arithmetic,  plane 
and  solid  geometry,  and  music  are  to  be  gradually  ac¬ 
quired;  and  instruction  is  to  be  afforded  in  morality,  the 
catechism,  the  Scriptures,  and  psalms,  hymns,  and 
prayers.  So  he  gives  exactly  the  amount  of  training  in 
mathematics,  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  religion  that  is 
to  appear  in  the  next  three  classes,  and  arranges  that 
Greek  shall  be  studied  and  Hebrew  begun.  In  the  last 
class,  the  wide  range  of  secular  knowledge  is  to  be  con¬ 
tinued,  and  such  theological  matters  as  the  relation  of 
souls  to  God  are  to  be  discussed. 

The  University  Curriculum.  —  Finally,  in  the  case  of 
the  university,  Comenius  maintains  that  “the  curricu¬ 
lum  should  be  really  universal,  and  provision  should  be 
made  for  the  study  of  every  branch  of  human  knowl¬ 
edge,”  but  “each  student  should  devote  his  undivided 
energies  to  that  subject  for  which  he  is  evidently  suited 
by  nature,”  —  theology,  medicine,  law,  music,  poetry,  or 
oratory.  However,  “those  of  quite  exceptional  talent 
should  be  urged  to  pursue  all  the  branches  of  study,  that 
there  may  always  be  some  men  whose  knowledge  is 
encyclopaedic.” 

The  Method  of  Nature. — Thus  at  every  stage  of  edu¬ 
cation  Comenius  believes  that  there  should  be  pansophic 
instruction.  The  way  in  which  this  knowledge  is  to  be 
acquired,  he  also  intends  to  have  in  full  accord  with 
sense  realism.  He  insists  that,  in  order  to  reform  the 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


283 


schools  of  the  day,  which  were  uninteresting,  wasteful  of 
time,  and  cruel,  the  ‘method  of  nature’  must  be  observed 
and  followed,  for  “  if  we  wish  to  find  a  remedy  for  the 
defects  of  Nature,  it  is  in  Nature  herself  that  we  must 
look  for  it,  since  it  is  certain  that  art  can  do  nothing 
unless  it  imitate  Nature.”  He  then  shows  how  Nature 
accomplishes  all  things  “with  certainty,  ease,  and  thor¬ 
oughness,”  1  in  what  respects  the  schools  have  deviated 
from  the  principles  of  nature,  and  how  they  can  be 
rectified  only  by  following  her  plans. 

These  principles  concerning  the  working  of  nature 
were,  however,  not  established  inductively  by  Comenius, 
but  laid  down  a  priori,  and  were  mostly  superficial  and 
fanciful  analogies.  The  following  quotation  from  the 
First  Principle  that  he  gives  under  the  ‘certainty’  of 
nature,  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  his  method :  — 

u  Nature  observes  a  suitable  tune.  For  example,  a  bird  that 
wishes  to  multiply  its  species,  does  not  set  about  it  in  winter,  when 
everything  is  stiff  with  cold,  nor  in  summer,  when  everything  is 
parched  and  withered  with  heat ;  nor  yet  in  autumn,  when  the  vital 
force  of  all  creatures  declines  with  the  sun’s  declining  rays,  and  a 
new  winter  with  hostile  mien  is  approaching ;  but  in  spring,  when 
the  sun  brings  back  life  and  strength  to  all.” 

The  schools  deviate  from  this  method  of  nature,  he 
claims  in  the  first  place,  because  “the  right  time  for 
mental  exercise  is  not  chosen,”  and  to  rectify  the  error, — 

“(I)  The  education  of  men  should  be  commenced  in  the  spring¬ 
time  of  life,  that  is  to  say,  in  boyhood  (for  boyhood  is  the  equivalent 
of  spring,  youth  of  summer,  manhood  of  autumn,  and  old  age  of 
winter).  (II)  The  morning  hours  are  the  most  suitable  for  study, 
for  here  again  the  morning  is  the  equivalent  of  spring,  midday  of 
summer,  the  evening  of  autumn,  and  the  night  of  winter.” 

It  is  not  remarkable  that,  with  all  his  realistic  tenden¬ 
cies,  Comenius  did  not  employ  the  inductive  method  to 
any  extent.  He  had  inherited  the  notion  that  not  all 
truth  can  be  secured  through  the  senses  or  by  reason. 
He  claimed  that  even  Bacon’s  method  could  not  be 
applied  to  the  entire  universe,  all  of  which  is  included 

1 1.e.  certo,  facile,  solide.  See  Didactica ,  Chapters  XIV-XVIII. 


One  should 
follow  the 
‘  method  of 
nature,’ 
which  ac¬ 
complishes 
all  things 
“  with  cer¬ 
tainty,  ease, 
and  thor¬ 
oughness.” 


The  analogy 
of  the  bird. 


The  induc¬ 
tive  method 
was  not  em¬ 
ployed  to 
any  extent. 


284 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


How  the 
principles 
for  following 
nature  may 
be  made  ef¬ 
fective;  the 
application 
of  the  gen¬ 
eral  method 
to  the  sci¬ 
ences,  arts, 
languages, 
morality, 
and  piety. 


Impression 
must  be 
insured  by 
expression. 


in  his  pansophia.  There  are,  he  held,  three  media  for 
knowledge,  —  the  senses,  the  intellect,  and  revelation, 
and  “error  will  cease  if  the  balance  between  them  is 
preserved.”  The  natural  sciences  were  young  in  the 
day  of  Comenius,  and  he  was  very  limited  in  his  grasp 
of  their  content  and  method.  It  is  a  sufficient  merit 
that,  imbibing  the  spirit  of  sense  realism,  he  had  for 
the  first  time  in  history  applied  anything  like  induction 
to  teaching,  and  produced  the  most  systematic  and 
thorough  work  upon  educational  method  that  had  been 
known. 

The  Method  Applied  to  Special  Subjects.  —  After 
working  out  in  the  Didactica  these  general  principles 
for  following  nature,  Comenius  renders  his  work  much 
more  practical  by  showing  how  such  principles  may  be 
made  effective  in  the  ordinary  schools.  He  then  applies 
his  general  method  to  the  specific  teaching  of  various 
branches  of  knowledge,  —  sciences,  arts  (including  read¬ 
ing,  writing,  singing,  composition,  and  logic),  and  lan¬ 
guages,  and  to  instruction  in  morality  and  piety.  On 
this  practical  side  of  his  method,  he  applies  more  fully 
the  induction  of  Bacon.  After  showing  the  necessity 
for  careful  observation  in  obtaining  a  knowledge  of  the 
sciences,  he  gives  nine  useful  precepts  for  their  study, 
and  while  they  are  stated  as  general  principles,  they  are 
clearly  the  inductive  result  of  his  own  experience  as  a 
teacher.  Similarly,  he  formulates  rules  for  instruction 
in  the  arts,  languages,  morality,  and  piety.  The  descrip¬ 
tion  of  special  method  in  sciences,  too,  is  thoroughly  in 
harmony  with  realism  in  its  insistence  that,  in  order  to 
make  a  genuine  impression  upon  the  mind,  one  must 
deal  with  realities  rather  than  books.  The  objects 
themselves,  or,  where  this  is  not  possible,  such  repre¬ 
sentations  of  them  as  can  be  conveyed  by  copies,  models, 
and  pictures,  must  be  studied.  In  the  case  of  the  lan¬ 
guages,  arts,  morality,  and  piety,  impression  must  be 
insured  by  expression.  “  What  has  to  be  done,  must  be 
learned  by  doing.”  Reading,  writing,  and  singing  are  to 
be  acquired  by  practice.  The  use  of  foreign  languages 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


285 


affords  a  better  means  of  learning  them  than  do  the  rules 
of  grammar.  Practice,  good  example,  and  sympathetic 
guidance  teach  us  virtue  better  than  do  precepts.  Piety 
is  instilled  by  meditation,  prayer,  and  self-examination. 

Correlation.  —  As  would  be  expected  from  the  three¬ 
fold  interrelated  aim  and  the  encyclopaedic  content  of 
education,  Comenius  everywhere  in  his  method  intends 
that  all  subjects  shall  be  correlated.  In  particular,  he 
holds :  — 

“  The  study  of  languages,  especially  in  youth,  should  be  joined  to 
that  of  objects,  that  our  acquaintance  with  the  objective  world  and 
with  language,  that  is  to  say,  our  knowledge  of  facts  and  our  power 
to  express  them,  may  progress  side  by  side.”1 

Discipline.  —  In  the  matter  of  discipline,  as  a  natural 
accompaniment  of  his  improvements  in  method,  Come¬ 
nius  was  in  advance  of  his  time.  He  holds  that  the  end 
of  discipline  is  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  fault,  and 
it  must  be  inflicted  in  such  a  way  that  the  pupil  will  rec¬ 
ognize  that  it  is  for  his  own  good.  Severe  punishment 
must  not  be  administered  for  a  failure  in  studies,  but 
only  for  a  moral  breach,  and  exhortation  and  reproof  are 
to  be  used  before  resorting  to  more  stringent  measures. 

The  Comenian  Principles  and  Their  Effect  upon  Educa¬ 
tion.  —  Such  was  the  work  of  Comenius,  who  may  in 
the  fullest  sense  be  considered  the  first  great  educational 
reformer  and  the  real  progenitor  of  modern  education. 
His  position  grew  out  of  sense  realism,  but  to  the 
encyclopaedic  content  and  the  natural  method  of  Bacon, 
Ratich,  and  others,  which  he  rendered  more  elaborate, 
consistent,  and  rational,  he  added  his  natural  endow¬ 
ment  of  innate  piety  and  a  sense  of  the  *  brotherhood  of 
man.’  Comenius  made  it  evident  that  education  should 
be  a  natural,  not  an  artificial  and  traditional,  process  in 
harmony  with  man’s  very  constitution  and  destiny,  and 
that  a  well-rounded  training  for  complete  living  should 
be  everywhere  afforded  to  all,  without  regard  to  sex, 
social  position,  or  wealth,  because  of  their  very  humanity. 

1  This  principle,  it  has  been  seen  (pp.  272-274),  Comenius  carried  out 
in  his  series  of  Latin  textbooks. 


The  study  of 
languages  to 
be  correlated 
with  that  of 
objects. 


Discipline  is 
to  prevent  a 
recurrence, 
and  should 
be  adminis¬ 
tered  only 
for  a  moral 
breach. 


To  sense 
realism 
Comenius 
added  the 
endowment 
of  piety. 

Education 
should  be 
in  harmony 
with  one’s 
nature,  and 
should  be 
universal. 


286 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Physical 
education 
and  sense 
training 
should  be 
part  of  the 
course. 


All  subjects 
should  be 
correlated. 


Comenius 

had  little 

influence 

upon 

schools, 

except 

through  his 

language 

texts, 


but  his  prin 
ciples  have 
become  the 
basis  of 
modern 
education, 
and  have 
influenced 
Francke, 
Basedow, 


He  outlined  a  regular  system  of  schools  and  described 
their  grading,  and  was  the  first  to  suggest  a  training  for 
very  young  children.  He  held  that  bodily  vigor  and 
physical  education  were  essential,  and  made  sense  train¬ 
ing  an  important  part  of  the  course.  He  further  broad¬ 
ened  and  enriched  the  entire  curriculum  by  subordinat¬ 
ing  Latin  to  the  vernacular  and  insisting  upon  geog¬ 
raphy,  history,  the  elements  of  all  arts  and  sciences, 
and  such  other  studies  as  would  fit  one  for  the  activities 
of  life.  He  correlated  and  coordinated  all  subjects,  and 
combined  even  the  training  in  Latin  with  a  knowledge 
of  real  things.  This  he  accomplished  through  a  series 
of  textbooks  that  were  a  great  advance  over  anything 
previously  produced.  Thus  he  greatly  contributed  to 
make  education  more  effective,  interesting,  pleasant, 
and  natural. 

However,  for  nearly  two  centuries  Comenius  had  but 
little  direct  effect  upon  the  schools,  except  for  his  lan¬ 
guage  methods  and  his  texts.  The  Janna  was  trans¬ 
lated  into  a  dozen  European,  and  at  least  three  Asiatic, 
languages ;  the  Orbis  Pictus  proved  even  more  popular, 
and  went  through  an  almost  unlimited  number  of  editions 
in  various  tongues ;  and  the  whole  series  became  for 
many  generations  the  favorite  means  of  introducing 
young  people  to  the  study  of  Latin.  But  until  about 
half  a  century  ago,  the  work  of  Comenius  as  a  whole 
had  purely  an  historical  interest,  and  was  known  almost 
solely  through  the  Orbis  Pictus .  The  great  reformer 
was  viewed  as  a  fanatic,  especially  as  the  pansophic  ideal 
turned  out  to  be  of  only  ephemeral  interest.  Humanism 
was  too  thoroughly  intrenched  to  give  way  at  once  to 
realism. 

Nevertheless,  the  principles  of  Comenius  were  uncon¬ 
sciously  taken  up  by  others  and  have  become  the  basis 
of  modern  education.  Francke  was  anticipated  by 
Comenius  in  suggesting  a  curriculum  that  would  fit  one 
for  life ;  before  Rousseau,  Comenius  intimated  that  the 
school  system  should  be  adapted  to  the  child  rather  than 
the  child  to  the  system;  Basedow  largely  modeled  his 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


287 


encyclopaedic  content  and  natural  method  after  the 
Orbis  P ictus ;  Pestalozzi  revived  the  universal  education, 
love  of  the  child,  and  study  of  nature  that  appear  in  the 
works  of  the  old  bishop  ;  Herbart’s  emphasis  upon  char¬ 
acter  and  upon  observation  seem  like  an  echo  of  Come- 
nius ;  while  the  kindergarten,  self-activity,  and  play, 
suggested  by  Froebel,  had  been  previously  outlined  by 
the  Moravian.  Hence  it  happened  that  in  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  works  of  Comenius 
were  once  more  brought  to  light  by  German  investigators, 
it  was  discovered  that  the  old  realist  of  the  seventeenth 
century  had  been  the  first  to  deal  with  education  in  a 
scientific  spirit,  and  work  out  its  problems  practically  in 
the  schools.  His  evidently  was  the  clearest  of  visions 
and  broadest  of  intellects.  While  it  is  easy  to  criticize 
him  now,  in  the  light  of  history  Comenius  is  perhaps  the 
most  important  individual  in  the  development  of  modern 
education. 

Locke  as  a  Sense  Realist.  —  Among  those  who  most 
directly  felt  the  influence  of  Comenius  was  Locke. 
There  are  elements  throughout  the  Thoughts ,  and  to  some 
extent  in  the  Conduct ,  where  he  seems  to  have  been 
affected  by  the  concrete  material  and  interesting  methods 
of  the  great  sense  realist  as  clearly  as  he  was  elsewhere 
by  the  humanistic  realism  of  Montaigne.1  Even  in  the 
subjects  he  recommends  for  the  education  of  a  gentleman, 
where  he  was  especially  following  Montaigne,  Locke 
makes  a  selection,  utilitarian  in  nature  and  wide  in  range, 
that  reminds  one  of  the  encyclopaedic  advice  of  Bacon, 
Ratich,  and  Comenius.  He  also  resembles  the  sense 
realists  in  desiring  to  begin  with  the  vernacular  studies, 
which  with  him  are  reading,  writing,  drawing,  and  pos¬ 
sibly  shorthand.  And  when  the  pupil  is  able  to  take  up 
a  foreign  language,  Locke  believes,  with  Comenius,  that 
this  should  not  be  Latin,  but  the  language  of  his  nearest 
neighbor,  —  in  the  case  of  the  English  boy,  French. 
After  the  neighboring  language  has  been  learned,  Latin 
may  be  studied.  Like  the  Moravian,  too,  Locke  believes 

1  See  pp.  256-259. 


Pestalozzi, 
Herbart,  and 
Froebel. 


Locke  was 
influenced 
by  sense 
realism,  to 
the  extent  of 
introducing 
a  utilitarian 
and  encyclo¬ 
paedic  cur¬ 
riculum,  and 
in  beginning 
with  the 
vernacular 
studies  and 
the  lan¬ 
guages  of 
one’s  nearest 
neighbors, 


288 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  in  his 
pleasant 
methods  of 
teaching. 


He  also 
holds  that 
impressions 
are  made 
through  the 
senses  by 
observation. 


Discipline 
should  be 
mild,  and 
not  for 
intellectual 
remissness. 


in  correlating  content  studies  with  the  study  of  lan¬ 
guages.  He  suggests :  — 

“  At  the  same  time  that  he  is  learning  French  and  Latin ,  a  Child, 
as  has  been  said,  may  also  be  enter’d  in  Arithmetick,  Geography , 
Chronology ,  History ,  and  Geometry ,  too.  For  if  these  be  taught  him 
in  French  or  Latin,  when  he  begins  once  to  understand  either  of 
these  Tongues,  he  will  get  a  Knowledge  in  these  sciences,  and  the 
Languages  to  boot.” 

In  the  matter  of  method  also,  Locke  reminds  one  of 
Comenius  and  the  other  sense  realists.  He  believes 
that  “  contrivances  might  be  made  to  teach  Children  to 
read ,  whilst  they  thought  they  were  only  playing,”  and 
makes  the  suggestion  of  pasting  the  letters  of  the  alpha¬ 
bet  upon  the  sides  of  the  dice.  And  further,  —  “  when  by 
these  gentle  Ways  he  begins  to  read ,  some  easy  pleasant 
Book,  suited  to  his  Capacity,  should  be  put  into  his  Hands, 
wherein  the  entertainment  he  finds  might  draw  him  on.” 

Moreover,  Locke  is  most  thoroughly  a  sense  realist  in 
his  theory  of  knowledge  and  the  pedagogical  recommen¬ 
dations  that  grow  out  of  it.  He  holds  that  impressions 
are  made  through  the  senses  by  observation,  and  are 
only  combined  afterward  by  reflection.1  The  develop¬ 
ment,  therefore,  of  such  knowledge  to  the  most  complex 
ideas  comes  through  induction,  and  in  this  way  the  sci¬ 
ences  should  be  studied.  In  the  Conduct ,2  he  states  :  — 

“  The  surest  way  for  a  learner,  in  this  as  in  all  other  cases,  is  not 
to  advance  by  jumps,  and  large  strides  ;  let  that  which  he  sets  him¬ 
self  to  learn  next  be  indeed  the  next ;  i.e.,  as  nearly  conjoined  with 
what  he  knows  already  as  it  is  possible ;  let  it  be  distinct,  but  not 
remote  from  it ;  let  it  be  new  and  what  he  did  not  know  before,  that 
understanding  may  advance ;  but  let  it  be  as  little  at  once  as  may 
be,  that  its  advances  may  be  clear  and  sure.” 

It  is  not  surprising  that,  with  such  pleasant  methods, 
Locke,  like  the  realists  generally,  declares  in  his 
Thoughts  that  “  great  Severity  of  Punishment  does  but 
very  little  Good,  nay,  great  Harm  in  Education.”  3  He 

1  This,  of  course,  is  brought  out  more  clearly  in  his  philosophical  work, 
Essay  concerning  the  Human  Understanding.  *  §  XXXIX. 

3  His  ideas  in  the  Conduct  would  point  to  quite  a  different  type  of 
method  and  discipline. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION  289 

prefers  “  Esteem  or  Disgrace ”  as  the  proper  means  of 
discipline,  and  maintains,  as  Comenius  did,  that  corporal 
punishment  should  be  for  moral  rather  than  intellectual 
remissness. 

Realistic  Tendencies  in  the  Elementary  Schools.  — 

Obvious  as  the  movement  is  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  effect  of  sense  realism  upon  the  schools  seems  to 
have  been  slow  and  indirect.  The  schools  of  those  days, 
as  of  other  periods,  had  become  highly  institutionalized, 
and  the  teachers  were  loath  to  break  through  any  of 
their  established  habits  in  respect  to  either  content  or 
method.  But  in  Germany  during  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury  there  came  a  decided  tendency  throughout  the  ele¬ 
mentary  schools  to  increase  instruction  in  the  vernacular, 
as  recommended  by  Ratich  and  Comenius,  and  to  learn 
first  the  German  grammar  rather  than  the  Latin.  With 
this  movement  was  joined  the  increase  in  universal  and 
compulsory  education  urged  by  the  reformers,  and  an 
introduction  of  elementary  science,  in  addition  to  the 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  religion,  and  singing.  At 
Weimar  in  1619,  through  a  pupil  of  Ratich,  a  new  sys¬ 
tem  with  universal  education  was  organized,  and  in 
1640  Duke  Ernst,  the  Pious,  of  Gotha  ordered  Andreas 
Reyher  to  prepare  a  Schiihnethodus  based  upon  new 
lines.1  Under  this  plan,  which  was  completed  two  years 
later,  elementary  instruction  was  afforded  to  both  sexes 
throughout  the  duchy  in  the  natural  sciences,  as  well  as 
in  the  usual  rudiments  and  religion.  This  work  in 
‘  science  ’  consisted  in  teaching  the  children  to  measure 
with  the  hour-glass  and  sun-dial,  to  observe  the  ordinary 
plants  and  animals,  and  to  carry  on  other  objective 
studies  of  a  simple  character.  Many  other  attempts 
were  made  elsewhere  in  the  German  states,  both  in 
private  and  public  education,  and  the  same  tendency 
appeared  in  the  states  of  Italy,  and  in  France,  Holland, 

and  England.  .  . 

Secondary  Schools.  —  But  the  new  realistic  tendencies 

1  See  p.  199. 
u 


The  effect 
of  sense 
realism  was 
slow  and 
indirect, 
but  in  the 
German 
elementary 
schools 
there  was 
increased 
instruction 
in  the  ver¬ 
nacular  and 
an  introduc¬ 
tion  of  ele¬ 
mentary 
science. 


290 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Realistic 
tendencies 
in  the  ‘  Gym' 
nasien,’  in 
the  ‘  Rittera- 
kademien’ 
that  were 
developed, 
in  the 
schools  of 
the  Pietists, 
and  in  the 
4  Realschu- 
len  ’ ; 


appear  also  in  German  secondary  education.  While  it 
was  not  until  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  that 
there  are  any  evidences  of  it  in  the  Gymnasien  and  other 
preparatory  schools,  it  becomes  apparent  by  the  middle 
of  the  century  in  the  renewed  activity  of  academies  for 
the  nobles.1  After  the  Thirty  Years’  War,  owing  to  the 
havoc  wrought  in  the  cities,  the  importance  of  the 
burghers  gives  way  decidedly  to  that  of  the  nobles,  who 
find  a  compensation  for  the  devastation  of  the  country 
in  a  new  splendor  of  living  and  a  brilliant  literature 
borrowed  from  the  court  of  Louis  XIV  (1643-171 5),  then 
at  its  height.  For  a  century  French  influence  domi¬ 
nated  the  courts  of  the  German  states,  and,  in  place  of 
humanistic  education,  there  was  developed  a  special 
training  for  the  young  nobles  in  French,  Italian,  Spanish, 
and  English,  in  such  accomplishments  as  courtly  con¬ 
duct,  dancing,  fencing,  and  riding,  and  in  philosophy, 
mathematics,  physics,  geography,  statistics,  law,  geneal¬ 
ogy,  and  heraldry.  This  realistic  training,  while  it  in¬ 
cludes  the  sciences,  is  seen  to  lean  rather  toward  the 
social  features  in  the  earlier  realism  of  Montaigne2  than 
the  objective  character  of  sense  realism.  The  educa¬ 
tional  institutions  in  which  it  was  embodied  were  not 
known  as  Fii rstensch u len ,  but  Ritterakademien  (‘  acade¬ 
mies  for  the  nobles  ’).  Such  academies  were  founded 
at  Colberg,  Liineburg,  Vienna,  Wolffenbuttel,  and  many 
other  centers,  before  the  close  of  the  century.  They 
originally  covered  the  work  of  the  Gymnasien ,  although 
they  substituted  modern  languages,  sciences,  and 
knightly  arts  for  the  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and  added  a 
little  from  the  course  of  the  university,  but  gradually 
they  became  part  of  the  regular  secondary  system. 
Both  in  these  schools  and  the  Gymnasien  the  Comenian 
texts  were  used,  but  this  was  rather  for  the  sake  of  their 
method  of  presenting  Latin  than  because  of  the  scientific 
content  of  these  works. 

Later  on,  the  Pietists'  schools 3  also  embodied  all  the 


1  See  p.  154. 


2  See  pp.  246-250. 


8  See  pp.  300-305. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


291 


realistic  elements  which  were  borrowed  by  Francke 
from  the  suggestions  in  the  writings  of  Comenius.  The 
Pietists,  however,  adopted  these  ideas  of  the  Moravian 
bishop  largely  for  their  religious  side  as  a  protest  and 
reaction  to  the  Rittei'akademieri  and  the  ‘rationalistic’ 
movement,  although  they  did  not  hesitate  also  to  stress 
the  science  content  and  the  study  of  the  vernacular. 
These  realistic  ideas,  started  by  Francke  at  Halle,  were 
modified  and  expanded  by  his  colleagues,  Semler  and 
Hecker,  and  found  their  way  to  Berlin  toward  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  They  then  spread 
throughout  Germany  until,  before  the  close  of  that  cen¬ 
tury,  they  were  embodied  by  means  of  the  Realschulen 
(‘realistic  schools’)  in  the  regular  school  system  of  the 
different  states.1  These  institutions,  while  retaining 
French  and  some  Latin,  have  added  also  the  ver¬ 
nacular,  history,  geography,  geometry,  mechanics,  ar¬ 
chitecture,  and  various  natural  sciences,  to  their  cur¬ 
riculum. 

In  England  such  recommendations  as  those  in  Locke’s 
Thoiights  concerning  moral  and  physical  education,  as 
we  have  already  noted,  did  much  toward  reshaping  the 
practice  of  the  grammar  and  public  schools,  but  probably 
very  few  introduced  even  the  elements  of  science  into 
their  course.  On  the  other  hand,  the  academy  recom¬ 
mended  in  Milton’s  Tractate  of  Ediication  was  actually 
organized  in  many  places  by  the  Puritans.  The  two 
thousand  non-conforming  clergymen  who  were  driven 
from  their  parishes  by  the  harsh  Act  of  Uniformity  in 
1662,  in  many  instances  found  school-teaching  a  con¬ 
genial  means  of  earning  a  livelihood,  and  at  the  same 
time  of  furnishing  higher  education  to  the  young  dis¬ 
senters  who  were  excluded  from  the  universities  and 
grammar  schools.  The  first  of  these  academies  was 
that  established  by  Richard  Frankland  at  Rathmill  in 
1665,  and  this  was  followed  by  the  institutions  of  John 
Woodhouse  at  Sheriffhales,  of  Charles  Morton  at  New- 


in  the 
grammar 
and  public 
schools,  and 
in  the  non¬ 
conformist 
'  academies  ’ 


1  See  p.  304. 


and  in  the 
academies 
of  America. 


292  A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 

ington  Green,  and  of  some  thirty  other  educators  of 
whom  we  have  record.  While  these  academies  usually 
followed  the  humanistic  realism  of  Milton,  and,  since 
their  chief  function  was  to  fit  for  the  ministry,  included 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  in  their  course,  they  were 
also  rich  in  sciences  and  mathematics  and  the  study  of 
the  social  sciences,  and  the  vernacular  was  especially 
emphasized.1  The  new  tendency  was  also  broadened 
and  amplified  by  the  writings  of  Locke,  whose  Thoughts 
became  the  great  guide  for  the  managers  of  the  Puritan 
academies.  In  1689,  when  the  Act  of  Toleration  put 
non-conformity  upon  a  legal  footing,  the  academies 
were  allowed  to  be  regularly  incorporated. 

So  in  America,  when  the  number  of  religiousdenomi- 
nations  had  greatly  increased  and  the  demands  upon 
secondary  education  had  expanded,  the  ‘grammar’ 
schools,  with  their  narrow  denominational  ideals  and 
their  limitation  to  a  classical  training  and  college  prepa¬ 
ration,  proved  inadequate,  and  an  imitation  of  the  Eng¬ 
lish  academy  arose  as  a  supplement.  The  first  suggestion 
of  an  ‘academy’ was  made  in  1743  by  Benjamin  Franklin. 
He  wished  to  inaugurate  an  education  that  would  pre¬ 
pare  for  life,  and  not  merely  for  college.  He  accord- 
ingly  proposed  for  the  youth  of  Pennsylvania  a  course 
in  which  English  grammar  and  composition,  penman¬ 
ship,  arithmetic,  drawing,  geography,  history,  the  natural 
sciences,  oratory,  civics,  and  logic  were  to  be  emphasized. 
He  would  gladly  have  excluded  the  languages  altogether 
and  made  the  course  completely  realistic,  but  for  politic 
reasons  he  made  these  subjects  elective.  His  academy 
was  opened  at  Philadelphia  in  1751,  and  similar  institu¬ 
tions  sprang  up  rapidly  through  the  other  colonies  dur¬ 
ing  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Shortly 
after  the  Revolution,  partly  owing  to  the  inability  or  the 
unwillingness  of  the  towns  or  the.  counties  to  maintain 
grammar  schools,  the  academy  quite  eclipsed  these 

1  A  detailed  account  of  the  history  and  curriculum  of  these  academies 
is  given  in  Brown,  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools ,  Chapter  VIII. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


293 


institutions,  and  became  for  a  time  the  representative 
type  of  secondary  school  in  the  United  States.1 

The  Universities.  —  The  conservatism  of  the  univer¬ 
sities  toward  realism  has  been  even  more  striking  than 
that  of  secondary  education.  These  higher  institutions,  it 
has  previously  been  observed,  were  exceedingly  reluc¬ 
tant  to  take  up  the  classics,  but  after  having  adopted 
them  as  the  substance  of  the  course  for  a  couple  of 
centuries,  they  were  long  unwilling  to  exchange  these 
subjects  for  others,  or  to  make  room  for  the  sciences  in 
any  way. 

In  Germany,  as  the  result  of  its  Pietistic  origin,  the 
University  of  Halle  was  realistic  almost  from  its  begin¬ 
ning  in  1692.  Gottingen,  the  next  institution  to  become 
hospitable  to  the  new  movement,  did  not  start  it  until 
1737.  But  soon  afterward  the  tendency  became  general, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  all  the  German 
universities,  —  at  least,  all  under  Protestant  auspices, 
had  created  professorships  in  the  sciences.  The  Eng¬ 
lish  universities,  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  were  much 
slower  than  those  of  Germany  in  adopting  the  new  sub¬ 
jects,  and  even  at  the  present  day  the  sciences  have  not 
altogether  obtained  the  standing  of  the  classics.  During 
the  professorship  of  Isaac  Newton  in  the  last  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  however,  much  was  done  toward 
making  Cambridge  mathematical  and  scientific,  and  dur¬ 
ing  the  eighteenth  century  many  chairs  were  established 
in  the  sciences,  but  it  was  not  until  toward  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  that  this  institution  became  famous  for 
its  science.  The  foundation  of  efficient  municipal  uni¬ 
versities  in  such  cities  as  London,  Liverpool,  Manches¬ 
ter,  and  Birmingham,  has  greatly  hastened  the  realistic 
movement  in  England  during  the  past  half  century. 
Likewise,  the  bitter  contest  over  the  admission  of  sci¬ 
ence  in  the  universities  of  the  United  States,  in  spite  of 
their  greater  freedom  from  tradition  and  precedent,  is 
still  within  the  memory  of  many. 


The  univer¬ 
sities  were 
very  conser¬ 
vative  in  the 
adoption  of 
the  sciences. 


In  Germany 
by  the  end 
of  the 
eighteenth 
century 
the  tendency 
became 
general. 


Oxford  and 
Cambridge 
were  slower, 
but  the  new 
municipal 
universities 
have  has¬ 
tened  the 
realistic 
movement. 


The  admis¬ 
sion  of  sci¬ 
ences  in  the 
United  States 
is  recent. 


1  See  Brown,  op.  cit .,  Chapter  IX. 


294 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 
I.  Sources 

Bacon,  F.  Philosophical  Works  (edited  by  Spedding,  Ellis,  and 
Heath). 

Comenius,  J.  A.  Great  Didactic  (translated  by  M.  W.  Keatinge), 
Orbis  Pictus  (English  edition  reprinted  by  C.  W.  Bardeen),  and 
School  of  Infancy  (translated  by  W.  S.  Monroe). 

Locke,  J.  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  (edited  by  Fowler),  and 
Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education  (edited  by  Quick). 

Richter,  A.  Ratichianische  Studien  (Pts.  9  and  12  of  Neudrucke 
Padagogischer  Schriften ) . 

II.  Authorities 

Adamson,  J.  W.  Pioneers  of  Modern  Education.  Chaps.  I-X. 

Ball,  W.  W.  R.  Short  History  of  Mat hematics. 

Barnard,  H.  American  Journal  of  Education.  Vols.  V,  229-298 
and  663-681,  and  VI,  459-466. 

Barnard,  H.  German  Teachers  and  Educators.  Pp.  311-388. 

Beard,  C.  The  Reforjnation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  Chap.  XI. 

Brown,  E.  E.  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools .  Chaps.  VIII 
and  IX. 

Browning,  O.  Educational  Theories.  Chap.  IV. 

Butler,  N .  M.  The  Place  of  Comenius  in  the  History  of  Education. 

Caird,  E.  University  Addresses.  Pp.  124-156. 

Cajori,  F.  A  History  of  Physics. 

Church,  R.  W.  Bacon. 

Compayre,  G.  History  of  Pedagogy.  Pp.  1 21-137. 

Davidson,  T.  History  of  Education.  Division  III,  Chap.  I. 

Fischer,  K.  Descartes  and  His  School. 

Fowler,  T.  Bacon's  Novum  Organum. 

Hanus,  P.  H.  The  Perma?ient  Influence  of  Comenius  ( Educational 
Aims  and  Values ,  VIII,  193-21 1). 

Kayser,  W.  Johan7i  Amos  Comenius.  Pp.  1-148. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Educational  Opinion  since  the  Renaissance.  Chaps. 
X-XI  and  XIII-XIV. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  John  Amos  Comenius. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Teachers ’  Guild  Addresses.  Chap.  VI. 

Lippert,  F.  A.  M.  Johann  Heinrich  Alsteds pddagogischdidaktische 
Reform-Bestrebungen  und  ihr  Einfluss  auf  J. A.  Comenius. 

Monroe,  P.  Text-book  in  the  History  of  Education.  Chap.  VIII. 

Monroe,  W.  S.  Comenius  and  the  Beginnings  of  Educational 
Reform. 

Munroe,  J.  P.  The  Educational  Ideal.  Chaps.  III-V. 

Nichol,  J.  Francis  Bacon. 


SENSE  REALISM  IN  EDUCATION  295 

Nohle,  E.  History  of  the  Ger?na7i  School  System  (Report  of  the 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1897-98,  pp.  39-44). 
Paulsen,  F.  German  Education  (translated  by  Lorenz).  Bk.  III. 
Quick,  R.  H.  Educational  Reformers.  Chaps.  IX,  X,  and  XIII. 
Russell,  J.  E.  German  Higher  Schools.  Chap.  III. 

Spedding,  J.  (Editor).  Life  and  Tunes  of  Francis  Bacon. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


The 

awakening 
in  religion 
and  govern¬ 
ment  in 
the  seven¬ 
teenth  and 
eighteenth 
centuries. 


Catholic  and 
Protestant 
states  alike 
had  become 
set  and 
literal  in 
their  religion, 
and  many 
states  had 
developed 
into 

despotisms. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  PURITANISM,  PIETISM,  AND 

RATIONALISM 

During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  there 
also  occurred  a  decided  awakening  in  the  religion  and 
government  of  Europe.  This,  however,  would  seem  to 
have  been  the  product  of  the  same  causes  as  the  revival 
in  intellectual,  moral,  and  social  conditions  marked  by 
the  Renaissance,  the  Reformation,  and  the  rise  of  real¬ 
ism.  It  somewhat  overlapped  these  other  movements, 
and  was  in  part  connected  with  them,  and  in  part  was  a 
reaction  from  them  when  they  had  become  stereotyped 
and  fixed. 

Reaction  to  the  Conditions  in  Church  and  State.  —  We 

have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  how  the  stimulus  in 
matters  religious  that  took  place  during  the  Protestant 
revolts  and  the  Catholic  reformation  had  largely  lost  its 
vitality  and  lapsed  once  more  into  formalism.  In  France, 
Italy,  Spain,  and  other  Catholic  countries,  the  Mother 
Church  had  again  sunk  into  a  traditionalism  and  author¬ 
itativeness  almost  as  repressive  as  before  the  Reforma¬ 
tion ;  in  England,  the  National  Church,  while  at  first 
growing  less  and  less  ceremonial,  had  under  the  Stuarts 
become  dogmatic  and  formal  again ;  while  in  Germany, 
the  Protestant  and  Catholic  states  alike  were  set  and 
literal  in  their  interpretation  of  religion.  A  similar  for¬ 
malism  and  despotism  had  for  a  longer  period  been 
growing  up  politically.  Many  states  of  Europe  had  at 
length  become  more  unified  through  the  development  of 
strong  national  governments  under  absolute  monarchs, 
and  although  these  more  stable  conditions  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  to  point  in  the  direction  of  higher  civilization, 
they  proved  anything  but  an  unalloyed  blessing. 

296 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  PURITANISM  297 


While  this  religious  and  political  situation  obtained 
even  in  the  small  and  disunited  states  of  Germany  and 
Italy,  and  in  the  Hapsburg  dominions  of  Spain  and 
Austria,  it  was  more  noticeable  in  such  highly  central¬ 
ized  governments  as  those  of  France  and  England.  In  in  France, 
France,  the  king  had  become  more  and  more  thoroughly 
a  despot,  who,  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  no 
longer  even  went  through  the  form  of  summoning  the 
Estates-General,  but  made  laws  and  levied  taxes  prac¬ 
tically  to  suit  himself.  The  nobility  and  the  clergy, 
however,  were  exempt  from  taxation,  and  while  still  col¬ 
lecting  their  feudal  dues  or  ecclesiastical  tithes  from  the 
people,  furnished  them  little  protection  or  spiritual  com¬ 
fort  in  return.  The  Catholic  Church  was  all-powerful, 
and  Protestants  could  not  be  legally  married,  have  births 
recorded,  or  make  wills.  In  England  the  power  of  Par-  England, 
liament  over  taxes  and  legislation,  which  had  been  built 
up  during  the  Middle  Ages,  became  nominal  during  the 
Tudor  period,  and  the  sovereigns,  by  the  exercise  of 
tact,  had  been  able  to  rule  as  practically  absolute  mon- 
archs.  The  situation  was  further  complicated  and  ren¬ 
dered  more  intolerable  through  religious  oppression. 

The  Tudors  had  established  a  national  church,  in  which 
the  authority  of  the  pope  was  denied,  but  many  of  the 
old  forms  and  ceremonies  were  continued.  The  ‘Puri¬ 
tans,’  1  who  were  dissatisfied  with  this  half-way  reform,2 
were  required  by  Charles  I  (1625-1649)  and  his  Arch¬ 
bishop  Laud  to  conform  to  the  national  church.  This 
led  to  a  political  and  religious  revolt,  in  which  the  Puri¬ 
tans  were  for  a  time  successful,  and  controlled  England 
under  Oliver  Cromwell  and  his  son  (1649-1660).  But  a 
reaction  against  the  Puritan  regime  led  to  the  restoration 
of  the  Stuarts  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Puritans  from 
their  parishes  or  even  from  the  country,  and  conditions 
became  more  oppressive  than  ever.  Even  in  Germany,  Germany, 

1  The  term  was  originally  applied  to  Low  Churchmen,  who  objected  to 
some  of  the  doctrine  and  ritual,  but  it  was  soon  loosely  used  and  extended 
so  as  to  include  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents  as  well. 

2  See  pp.  196  f. 


298 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  else¬ 
where  had 
grown  up 
movements 
of  protest. 


Puritanism 
had  become 
potent  in  the 
overthrow  of 
the  Stuarts, 
and  had 
developed 
education 
and  the 
schools. 


Milton, 
his  Tractate , 
and  the 
‘  Academy.’ 


where  the  various  states  were  not  yet  centralized  under 
a  single  head,1 2  religion  had  become  largely  crystallized 
and  formal.  Most  of  the  fervor  of  the  Reformation  had 
spent  itself,  and  the  prevailing  Lutheranism  had  become 
bound  down  by  creed  and  sacrament.  Exactness  of 
definition  and  correctness  of  belief  had  come  to  weigh 
more  than  religious  emotion  and  purity  of  life.  Similar 
conditions  existed  in  all  other  countries  and  were  bound 
to  lead  to  a  reaction.  With  the  growth  of  intelligence 
and  civilization,  discontent  with  these  despotic  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  conditions  in  Europe  was  inevitable.  In 
opposition  to  the  prevailing  formalism,  great  movements 
of  protest,  such  as  Puritanism  in  England,  Pietism  in 
Germany,  and  Rationalism  in  England  and  France  grew 
up. 

Puritanism  and  Its  Effects. — Puritanism  was  originally 
an  attempt  to  bring  about  a  more  active  piety  and  a 
‘purer’  conduct,  but  through  a  gradual  increase  in 
strength  and  the  persecutions  of  the  government,  it  be¬ 
came  involved  in  politics  and  was  most  potent  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  Stuarts.  From  its  ranks,  too,  came 
several  who  contributed  greatly  to  educational  theory 
and  to  the  improvement  of  the  schools  themselves.  For 
example,  the  poet  Milton  was  a  stanch  Puritan,  and 
his  Tractate  of  Education?  which  showed  his  opposition 
to  the  formal  schools  of  the  day,  was  but  one  of  the 
several  pamphlets  of  protest  from  his  pen.  He  also 
wrote  upon  the  freedom  of  the  press,  the  tenure  of 
kings,  and  religious  toleration,  and  against  the  episco¬ 
pacy.3  Moreover,  as  has  already  appeared,4  the  ‘acad- 

1  Of  course  the  Hapsburg  control  of  Germany  was  mostly  nominal. 

2  See  pp.  254-256. 

3  On  the  other  hand,  the  great  social  philosopher  Hobbes  was  stimu¬ 

lated  to  write  through  his  royalist  associations.  He  defended  the 
absolutism  of  the  monarch  on  the  theory  that  the  people  had  in  the  dim 
past  agreed  to  hand  over  all  their  rights  to  a  single  person,  in  order  to 
escape  from  continual  warfare  with  one  another,  and  could  never  be  re¬ 
leased  from  their  obedience.  Therefore,  with  him,  right  and  morality  are 
the  creation  of  the  State,  and  religion  and  education  should  be  controlled 
by  the  State,  4  See  pp.  291-293. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  PURITANISM  299 


emy’  that  he  recommended  in  his  Tractate  formed  a 
sort  of  model  for  the  later  non-conformist  schools, 
and  for  the  second  stage  of  American  secondary 
education. 

The  Puritans  thus  greatly  aided  in  bringing  both  civil 
and  religious  liberty  to  England  and  in  improving  the 
tone  of  morals  and  education.  Nevertheless,  the  move-  Thedegen- 
ment,  like  the  revivals  that  had  preceded  it,  seems  to  eracyof 
have  degenerated,  whenever  it  became  dominant,  into  a  into 
formalism  quite  as  marked  as  that  against  which  it  was  formalism* 
a  protest.  It  affected  impossible  and  absurd  ideals,  and 
condemned  all  harmless  amusements  and  pleasures. 
Ball-playing,  bell-ringing,  hunting,  theater  attendance, 
and  dancing  were  placed  in  the  same  category  with 
drunkenness,  licentiousness,  theft,  lying,  and  profanity. 

Use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  or  scoffing  at  Puri¬ 
tans  came  to  be  considered  equally  heinous  with  loose¬ 
ness  of  living.  The  effort  to  stimulate  *  pure  religion 
and  undefiled  ’  deteriorated  into  pride,  narrowness,  intol¬ 
erance,  exaggeration,  and  occasional  hypocrisy.  The 
everyday  conversation  of  the  Puritans  must  have  been 
filled  with  the  fanaticism  and  cant  that  appears  in  the 
literature  of  the  day,  and  wide  was  the  divergence  be¬ 
tween  preaching  and  practice.  Puritanism  had  largely 
become  externality  and  form. 

Rise  of  the  Pietists.  —  Meanwhile,  a  great  religious 
revival  was  taking  place  also  in  Germany.  In  the  midst 
of  the  formalism  into  which  Lutheranism  had  fallen, 
there  arose  a  set  of  theologians  who  were  convinced  of 
the  need  of  moral  and  religious  reform,  and  desired  to 
make  religion  a  matter  of  life  rather  than  of  creed. 

Among  their  number  early  appeared  Philipp  Jakob  spenerand 
Spener  (1635-1705),  a  pastor  in  Frankfurt,  who  insti- 
tuted  at  his  home  a  series  of  so-called  collegia  pietatis 
(‘  religious  assemblies  ’),  in  which  were  formulated  propo¬ 
sitions  of  reform.  The  views  here  represented  seem  to 
have  been  largely  borrowed  from  Puritan  writers.  They 
did  not  advocate  any  new  doctrine,  but  simply  subor¬ 
dinated  orthodoxy  to  spiritual  religion  and  practical 


300 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Francke’s 
education 
and  early 
career. 


Through  his 
pastorate  in 
Glaucha,  he 
was  led  to 
found  an 
‘  Armen- 
schule,’  a 
‘  Biirger- 
schule,’  and 
a  '  Waisen- 
anstalt.’ 


morality.  The  movement  spread  rapidly,  and  made  a 
great  impression  throughout  Germany.  The  old  ortho¬ 
dox  theologians  and  pastors  were  grievously  offended, 
and,  from  the  name  of  the  gatherings,  the  reformers 
became  known  in  reproach  as  Pietists,1 

Francke.  —  From  the  standpoint  of  education,  however, 
the  most  important  Pietist  was  August  Hermann  Francke 
(1663-1727).  Francke  received  an  excellent  education 
at  Gotha  Gymnasium,  where  he  became  acquainted  with 
the  reforms  of  Ratich  and  Comenius,  and  at  the  univer¬ 
sities  of  Erfurt,  Kiel,  and  Leipzig,  in  which  he  studied 
theology  and  the  languages,  especially  Greek  and 
Hebrew.  He  first  came  into  notice  at  Leipzig,  where 
he  had  become  a  Privatdocent ,  by  starting  a  Pietist 
society  for  careful  discussion  and  pious  application  of 
the  Scriptures.  His  attitude  aroused  the  ill-will  of  the 
older  professors  and  caused  his  dismissal.  After  a  brief 
but  stormy  career  as  a  preacher  at  Erfurt  and  as  a 
teacher  at  Hamburg,  he  assisted  in  founding  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Halle,  which  became  the  center  from  which 
Pietism  was  diffused  throughout  Germany. 

Organization  of  His  Institutions.  —  Here  in  1692 
Francke  became  a  professor  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
languages,  but  was  afterward  transferred  to  his  favorite 
subject  of  theology.  To  make  ends  meet,  he  was  also 
appointed  pastor  in  the  suburb  of  Glaucha,  and  through 
this  latter  position  his  real  work  as  an  educator  began. 
While  catechizing  the  children  who  came  to  the  parson¬ 
age  to  beg,  he  was  shocked  at  their  ignorance,  poverty, 
and  immorality,  and  resolved  to  raise  them  from  their 
degradation  by  education.  One  day  early  in  1695,  upon 
finding  a  contribution  of  seven  guldens  ($  2.80)  in  his 
alms  box,  he  started  an  Armenschule  (‘  school  for  the 
poor  ’)  in  his  own  house  and  engaged  a  student  of  the 
university  to  teach  it.  As  he  was  soon  requested  to 
open  another  school  for  those  whose  parents  could  afford 
to  pay,  he  rented  two  rooms  in  a  neighboring  building,  — 

1  Like  the  names  Puritan  and  Methodist however,  it  was  afterward 
adopted  as  a  term  of  honor. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  PIETISM 


301 


one  for  the  Armens  chide  and  one  for  the  Biirgerschule 
(‘  school  for  citizens  ’).  Further,  believing  it  of  advan¬ 
tage  to  remove  orphans  from  their  old  associations,  he 
established  a  third  institution  for  them,  called  the 
Waisenanstalt  (‘orphanage’),  and  later  he  subdivided 
all  three  organizations  upon  the  basis  of  sex. 

Still  in  this  same  year,  he  undertook  for  a  wealthy 
widow  of  noble  family  to  educate  her  son  together  with 
some  other  boys,  and  his  work  in  this  direction  grew 
rapidly  into  a  secondary  school,  which  came  to  be  known 
as  the  Padagoginm.  Two  years  later  he  started  another 
secondary  course  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  the 
brighter  boys  from  the  orphan  and  poor  schools  for  the 
university,  and  this  was  called  the  LateinischeHauptschule , 
or  Schola  Latina,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  elementary 
schools,  in  which  no  foreign  language  was  taught.  As 
early  as  1698,  Francke  likewise  wished  to  organize  a 
boarding-school  where  girls  whose  parents  could  afford 
it  might  obtain  a  training  in  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  and 
other  secondary  subjects,  and  while  at  first  this  enterprise 
was  on  a  small  scale,  within  a  dozen  years  the  Hohere 
Tochterschule  (‘  higher  school  for  girls  ’)  became  a  regu¬ 
lar  part  of  his  system.  Moreover,  through  his  colleague, 
Semler,  a  secondary  school  of  a  more  practical  type, 
called  the  Realschule,  in  which  the  pure  and  applied 
sciences  were  taught,  became  associated  in  1708  with 
the  institutions  of  Francke. 

In  addition  to  these  elementary  and  secondary  schools, 
Francke  was  also  enabled,  through  a  gift  of  four  thou¬ 
sand  marks  ($1000),  to  institute  in  1695  a  Seminarium 
Prceceptorum  (‘  seminary  for  teachers’),  in  which  the 
theological  students  that  taught  in  his  schools  might  be 
trained.  These  students  practiced  teaching  for  two 
hours  each  day  under  the  supervision  and  criticism  of 
inspectors,  and  were  boarded  at  a  Frei-tisch  (‘  free  table’), 
established  by  means  of  the  endowment. 

His  Religious  Aim  in  Education.  —  Even  if  we  were 
not  acquainted  with  the  origin  of  Pietism,  or  with  the 
practice  in  Francke’s  schools,  the  explicit  statements  in 


He  also 
founded 
secondary 
schools, — 

‘  Pada- 
gogium/ 

‘  Schola 
Latina,’ 

*  Tochter- 
schule,’  and 
'  Realschule,' 


and  a  ‘  Semi¬ 
narium  Prae- 
ceptorum.’ 


His  Chris¬ 
tian  Educa¬ 
tion  holds 


302 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


religion  to 
be  the  chief 
aim,  but  de¬ 
clares  that 
the  pupil’s 
station  must 
be  consid¬ 
ered. 


The  Bible 
and  cate¬ 
chism  as 
material, 
and  reading 
and  writing 
based  on  the 
Scriptures. 


Realistic 

studies. 


In  the  Pada- 
gogium, 
Greek  and 
Hebrew  for 
exegesis, 
and  Latin 
and  French 
through  the 
Bible. 


his  Brief  and  Simple  Treatise  on  Christian  Education^ 
would  make  it  evident  that  the  educational  aim  underly¬ 
ing  all  his  work  was  primarily  religious  training.  “  The 
chief  object  in  view,”  says  Francke,  “  is  that  children 
may  be  instructed  above  all  things  in  the  vital  knowledge 
of  God  and  Christ,  and  be  initiated  into  the  principles 
of  true  religion.”  He  goes  so  far  as  to  insist : 

“Only  the  pious  man  is  a  good  member  of  society.  Without 
sincere  piety,  all  knowledge,  all  prudence,  all  worldly  culture,  is  more 
hurtful  than  useful,  and  we  are  never  secure  against  its  misuse.” 

His  position  is,  therefore,  a  real  return  to  the  Refor¬ 
mation  emphasis  upon  faith  and  non-ceremonial  worship. 
Nevertheless,  it  has  been  clear  that  he  was  sufficiently 
affected  by  the  times  to  found  his  schools  somewhat 
with  reference  to  existing  social  strata,  and  he  distinctly 
declares  :  “  In  all  instruction  we  must  keep  the  pupil’s 
station  and  future  calling  in  mind.” 

Course  in  His  Different  Schools.  —  Naturally,  then,  the 
subject  most  emphasized  in  all  of  Francke’s  schools  was 
religion.  In  the  elementary  schools,  four  out  of  seven 
hours  each  day  were  given  to  Bible  study,  catechism, 
prayer,  and  pious  observances,  and  the  reading  and  writ¬ 
ing  were  based  upon  the  Scriptures  as  material.  After 
learning  to  read,  a  pupil  studied  arithmetic  for  four  hours, 
and  vocal  music  for  two  hours  each  week.  Incidentally, 
the  course  was  enriched  with  a  knowledge  of  ‘real  ’  or  use¬ 
ful  things,  such  as  the  simplest  facts  of  astronomy  and 
physics,  bits  of  geographical  and  historical  information, 
and  various  household  arts. 

In  the  Padagogium ,  not  only  was  religion  the  chief 
study,  but  Greek  and  Hebrew  were  taught  largely  for 
the  sake  of  exegesis,  compositions  were  written  in  Latin 
upon  Bible  subjects,  and  French  was  learned  through  a 
New  Testament  in  that  language.  The  realistic  turn  to 
Francke’s  work  also  appeared  in  the  training  in  the  ver¬ 
nacular,  in  such  studies  as  mcthematics,  German  oratory, 

1  The  full  title  is  Kurzer  und  einfaltiger  Unterricht  wie  die  Kinder 
zur  wahren  Gottseligkeit  und  Christlichen  Klugheit  anzufuhren  sind. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  PIETISM 


303 


history,  and  geography,  and  in  the  elements  of  natural 
science,  arts,  and  crafts,  and  of  astronomy,  anatomy,  and 
materia  medica.  He  also  added  the  management  of  es¬ 
tates,  gardens,  and  vineyards,  and  such  other  knowledge 
as  the  upper  classes  of  society  would  find  useful.  As  the 
pupils  in  the  Schola  Latina  were  not  of  sufficient  social 
standing  to  demand  it,  the  French  and  some  of  the 
practical  studies  of  the  Padagogium  were  omitted,  but 
the  curriculum  was  otherwise  the  same.  The  Realschule 
went  more  fully  into  the  mathematics,  sciences,  and  use¬ 
ful  subjects  than  did  the  Padagogium.  The  work  in  the 
Tochterschule  was  not  unlike  that  in  the  Latin  school, 
but  included  the  household  arts  and  other  occupational 
studies  and  ‘  accomplishments.’ 

Character  of  His  Methods.  —  While  the  course  in  all 
of  Francke’s  schools  was  distinctly  disciplinary  in  the¬ 
ory,  good  pedagogy  was  not  altogether  neglected.  The 
teachers  were  directed  by  his  treatise  to  study  each 
individual  pupil,  and  were  advised  how  to  train  children 
to  concentrate,  observe,  and  reason.  Although  much 
memorizing  was  practiced,  “  children  were  not  to  be 
permitted  to  learn  to  prattle  words  without  understand¬ 
ing  them.”  This  comprehension  of  the  work  was,  of 
course,  increased  by  applying  all  studies  to  everyday 
life.  The  pupils  wrote  formal  letters,  receipts,  and 
bonds,  and  their  mathematical  problems  were  based 
upon  practical  transactions.  The  discipline  in  all  the 
schools  of  Francke,  in  consequence,  though  strict,  was 
mild  and  humane. 

The  Influence  of  Francke’s  Institutions.  —  From  these 
schools,  together  with  the  orphanage,  seminary,  and 
‘free  table’  as  a  nucleus,  have  developed  the  now  cele¬ 
brated  organization  known  as  Francke sche  Stiftungen 
(‘  Francke’s  Institutions  ’).  “  It  is  difficult  to  decide,” 

says  Adamson,  “whether  the  most  surprising  feature 
is  their  humble  beginning,  or  their  rapid  growth  and 
steady  adaptation  of  means  to  ends.”  In  spite  of  many 
controversies  resulting  from  the  Pietistic  auspices  of  the 
institutions,  at  the  death  of  Francke  in  1727,  there  were 


Realistic  and 

practical 

studies. 


Course  of 
the  Schola 
Latina,  the 
Realschule, 
and  the 
Tochter- 
schule. 


The  indi¬ 
vidual  pupil 
was  studied. 


Memorizing 
without 
understand¬ 
ing  was  not 
allowed. 

Application 
of  studies  to 
daily  life. 

Mild  disci¬ 
pline. 


*  Francke’s 
Institutions’ 
grew  rapidly, 
increased  in 
number,  and 
have  done 
a  most 
effective 
work. 


304 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  *  mod¬ 
ern  ’  studies 
have  influ¬ 
enced  the 
*  Gymna- 
sien,’  the 
'  Realschule  * 
has  spread 
throughout 
Prussia,  and 
the  '  Semi- 
narium  ’  has 
been  adopted 
by  practically 
all  the  Ger¬ 
man  states. 


already  in  the  elementary  schools  some  seventeen  hun¬ 
dred  and  twenty-five  pupils  of  both  sexes,  in  the  orphan¬ 
age  were  maintained  one  hundred  boys  and  thirty-four 
girls,  while  the  Padagogium  had  eighty-two,  and  the 
Schola  Latina  four  hundred,  boys,  and  two  hundred  and 
fifty  students  boarded  at  the  ‘  free  table.’ 

These  institutions  have  since  been  increased  in  num¬ 
ber,  and  there  are  now  some  twenty-five  enterprises 
conducted  in  a  large  group  of  structures  built  about  a 
double  court.  Among  the  additions  are  a  printing-plant 
and  bindery,  a  book-store,  a  Bible  house,  a  drug-store 
and  dispensary,  and  a  home  for  women,  as  well  as  a 
Realgymnasium1  and  a  Vorschule .2  Through  these  insti¬ 
tutions  more  than  four  thousand  persons  are  being  pro¬ 
vided  with  the  means  of  an  education  or  livelihood,  and 
many  good  causes  are  advanced.  Over  one  million 
marks  ($250,000),  coming  from  the  endowment,  state 
appropriations,  tuition  fees,  and  profits  upon  the  enter¬ 
prises,  are  expended  each  year  in  maintaining  the 
institutions. 

This  work  of  Francke  has  had  a  great  influence  upon 
German  education  in  several  directions.  The  ‘  modern  ’ 
studies  of  the  Padagogium  and  Schola  Latina  have  been 
a  model  for  Prussia  and  all  Protestant  Germany,  and 
have  somewhat  affected  the  curricula  of  the  Gymnasien. 
The  Realschule  of  Semler  was  brought  in  a  slightly 
modified  form  to  Berlin  by  Hecker,  one  of  the  teachers 
in  the  Padagogium.  From  the  capital  it  spread  gradu¬ 
ally  throughout  Prussia,  until  it  was  taken  into  the 
public  system,  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  important 
features.  The  seminary,  or  training-school  for  teachers, 
has  been  adopted  by  practically  every  one  of  the  German 
states.  Further,  since  in  the  various  schools  of  Francke 
were  realized  the  chief  ideals  of  most  educational  re¬ 
formers  up  to  that  time,  Germany  was  thereby  given 

1  A  compromise  between  the  Gymnasium  and  the  Realschule ,  which 
has  been  quite  common  in  Germany,  but  is  now  disappearing. 

2  A  preparatory  school  for  the  secondary  schools,  attended  by  children 
between  six  and  nine. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  PIETISM  305 

a  concrete  example  of  what  it  might  best  strive  to  imi¬ 
tate.  Again,  by  means  of  teachers  trained  in  his  system 
by  the  seminary,  all  Germany  has  been  leavened  by  the 
spirit  of  the  great  Pietist. 

Decline  of  Pietism.  —  As  to  Pietism  itself,  however, 
while  originally  a  protest  against  creed  and  ceremonial, 
in  later  years  it  lost  much  of  its  living  power  and  deterio¬ 
rated  into  a  formalism  in  religious  life  and  thought.  It 
magnified  even  the  smallest  of  daily  doings  into  expres¬ 
sions  of  piety,  and  became,  like  Puritanism,  pervaded 
with  affectation  and  cant.  To  a  great  extent,  its  schools, 
with  their  spiritual  purpose  and  content,  then  lapsed  into 
merely  inefficient  classes  in  formal  catechism,  and  all 
hold  upon  real  living  was  lost.  The  religious  revival  of 
Spener  and  the  educational  impulse  of  Francke  had 
become  crystallized  and  fixed. 

Rationalism  in  England  and  France  and  Its  Effects ; 
John  Locke.  —  It  was  also  during  this  period  of  Puritan¬ 
ism  and  Pietism  that  the  world  heard  from  the  great 
rationalistic  philosopher  and  educationalist,  John  Locke. 
While  Locke’s  ancestry  was  Puritan,  this  seems  to  have 
had  little  influence  upon  his  life  and  philosophy,  except 
as  he  was  ever  the  advocate  of  civil,  religious,  and  philo¬ 
sophic  freedom.  This  tendency  was  increased  by  his 
close  personal  relations  with  the  noted  liberal,  Lord 
Shaftesbury.1  In  accordance  with  his  convictions,  Locke 
wrote  two  Treatises  on  Government ,  three  Letters  on 
Toleration ,  and  an  essay  upon  The  Reasonableness  of 
Christianity.  Each  of  these  works  vigorously  opposed 
absolutism  and  dogmatism,  but  they  are  all  simply  appli¬ 
cations  of  the  thought  underlying  his  great  Essay  con¬ 
cerning  the  Human  Understanding.  In  this  treatise, 
which  was  the  product  of  his  reflection  during  a  score 
of  years,  he  holds,  as  in  the  more  special  works,  to  the 
fruitlessness  of  traditional  opinions  and  empty  phrase¬ 
ology.  He  rejects  all  ‘innate  ideas,’  or  axiomatic  prin¬ 
ciples,  and  charges  that  this  tenet  was  imposed  by 

1  See  p.  257. 

X 


All  Germany 
has  been 
ileavened. 


But  Pietism, 
too,  became 
crystallized 
and  fixed. 


Locke,  as  an 
advocate  of 
civil  and 
religious 
freedom, 
wrote  several 
treatises,  but 
they  are  all 
applications 
of  the  ration¬ 
alistic  phil¬ 
osophy  in 
his  Essay. 


30  6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


He  holds  in 
his  Conduct 
that  the 
mind,  like 
the  body, 
grows 
through 
exercise, 


masters  and  teachers  upon  their  followers,  “  to  take  them 
off  their  own  reason  and  judgment,  and  put  them  on 
believing  and  taking  them  upon  trust  without  further 
examination.”  All  knowledge,  claims  the  Essay,  comes 
rather  from  experience,  and  the  mind  is  like  white  paper 
upon  which  ideas  can  be  painted  by  ‘sensation’  and 
‘reflection.’ 1  Locke  further  finds  it  necessary  to  deter¬ 
mine,  when  the  ideas  are  once  in  mind,  what  they  tell 
us  in  the  way  of  truth.  He  holds  that  “knowledge  is 
real  only  so  far  as  there  is  a  conformity  between  our 
ideas  and  the  reality  of  things,”  and  that,  as  we  cannot 
always  be  sure  of  this  correspondence,  much  of  our 
knowledge  is  probable  and  not  certain.  We  must, 
therefore,  in  each  case  carefully  consider  the  grounds 
of  probability, — “the  conformity  of  anything  with  our 
own  knowledge,  observation,  and  the  testimony  of 
others.” 

Locke’s  Disciplinary  Theory  in  Intellectual  Education. — 
To  train  the  mind  to  make  the  proper  discriminations 
in  these  matters,  Locke  claims  that  a  formal  discipline 
must  be  furnished  by  education.  This  attitude  is  made 
clear  in  his  posthumous  educational  work,  Conduct 
the  Understanding.  As  regards  the  aim  of  intellectual 
education,  he  holds  in  this  work :  — 


“  As  it  is  in  the  body,  so  it  is  in  the  mind ;  practice  makes  it 
what  it  is,  and  most  even  of  those  excellences  which  are  looked  on 
as  natural  endowments  will  be  found,  when  examined  into  more  nar¬ 
rowly,  to  be  the  product  of  exercise,  and  to  be  raised  to  that  pitch 
only  by  repeated  actions.  Few  men  are  from  their  youth  accustomed 
to  strict  reasoning,  and  to  trace  the  dependence  of  any  truth  in  a 
long  train  of  consequences  to  its  remote  principles  and  to  observe  its 
connection  ;  and  he  that  by  frequent  practice  has  not  been  used  to 
this  employment  of  his  understanding,  it  is  no  more  wonder  that  he 
should  not,  when  he  is  grown  into  years,  be  able  to  bring  his  mind 
to  it,  than  that  he  should  not  be  able  on  a  sudden  to  grave  and 
design,  dance  on  the  ropes,  or  write  a  good  hand,  who  has  never 
practiced  either  of  them.” 

Concerning  the  best  studies  for  producing  this  mental 
gymnastic,  Locke  says  :  — 

1  This  is  his  famous  doctrine  of  the  tabula  rasa. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  RATIONALISM  307 


“  Would  you  have  a  man  reason  well,  you  must  use  him  to  it  be¬ 
times,  exercise  his  mind  in  observing  the  connection  of  ideas  and 
following  them  in  train.  Nothing  does  this  better  than  mathematics, 
which  therefore  I  think  should  be  taught  all  those  who  have  the 
time  and  opportunity,  not  so  much  to  make  them  mathematicians  as 
to  make  them  reasonable  creatures  .  .  .,  that  having  got  the  way  of 
reasoning,  which  that  study  necessarily  brings  the  mind  to,  they 
might  be  able  to  transfer  it  to  other  parts  of  knowledge  as  they  shall 
have  occasion.” 

So  Locke  advises  a  wide  range  of  sciences,  not  for 
the  sake  of  the  realistic  knowledge  obtained,  but  for  in¬ 
tellectual  discipline,  “  to  accustom  our  minds  to  all  sorts 
of  ideas  and  the  proper  ways  of  examining  their  habi¬ 
tudes  and  relations ;  .  .  .  not  to  make  them  perfect  in  any 
one  of  the  sciences,  but  so  to  open  and  dispose  their 
minds  as  may  best  make  them  capable  of  any,  when 
they  shall  apply  themselves  to  it.”  Similarly,  he  implies 
that  reading  may  become  a  means  of  discrimination. 
“  Those  who  have  got  this  faculty,  one  may  say,  have 
got  the  true  key  of  books,  and  the  clue  to  lead  them 
through  the  mizemaze  of  variety  of  opinions  and  authors 
to  truth  and  certainty.” 

Formal  Discipline  in  Moral  and  Physical  Training.  — 

The  same  disciplinary  conception  of  the  aim  of  educa¬ 
tion  underlies  most  of  Locke’s  recommendations  on 
moral  and  physical  training  in  Some  Thoughts  concern¬ 
ing  Education.  When  in  this  work  he  comes  to  treat 
moral  education,  he  declares  at  the  start :  — 

“  As  the  strength  of  the  body  lies  chiefly  in  being  able  to  endure 
Hardships,  so  also  does  that  of  the  Mind.  And  the  great  Principle 
and  Foundation  of  all  Virtue  and  Worth  is  plac’d  in  this:  That  a 
Man  is  able  to  deny  himself  his  own  Desires ,  cross  his  own  Inclina¬ 
tions,  and  purely  follow  what  Reason  directs  as  Best,  tho’  the  Appe¬ 
tite  lean  the  other  Way.  .  .  .  This  Power  is  to  be  got  and  improv’d 
by  Custom,  made  easy  and  familiar  by  an  early  Practice.  If,  there¬ 
fore,  I  might  be  heard,  I  would  advise  that,  contrary  to  the  ordinary 
Way,  Children  should  be  us’d  to  submit  their  Desires,  and  go 
without  their  Longings,  even  from  their  very  Cradles.  The  first 
Thing  they  should  learn  to  know,  should  be  that  they  were  not  to 
have  any  Thing  because  it  pleas’d  them,  but  because  it  was  thought 
fit  for  them.” 

Hence,  in  Locke’s  opinion,  morality  comes  about 


and  that  the 
best  gymnas¬ 
tic  for  rea¬ 
soning  is 
found  in 
mathematics. 


He  also 
advises  a 
range  of  sci¬ 
ences  to  dis¬ 
pose  the 
mind  so  as 
to  be  capable 
of  any  sci¬ 
ence. 


Moral  train¬ 
ing  he  de¬ 
clares  to  be 
obtained  by 
denying 
one’s  desire* 


308 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


and  physical 
training  by 
the  ‘  harden¬ 
ing  process.’ 


Judged  by 
the  Thoughts 
rather  than 
the  Conduct , 
Locke  has 
been  classed 
as  a  realist 
or  a  natural¬ 
ist,  instead  of 
an  advocate 
of  ‘  formal 
discipline,’ 
as  is  clearly 
the  case  with 
the  Conduct 
and  the 
moral  and 
physical 
training  in 
the  Thoughts . 


through  submitting  the  natural  desires  to  the  control  of 
reason,  and  thereby  forming  virtuous  habits.  In,  this 
light  he  discusses  various  virtues  and  vices  as  they  occur 
to  him,  and  insists  that,  in  order  that  the  proper  habits 
may  be  ingrained  in  them,  children  should  recognize  the 
absolute  authority  of  their  fathers  and  tutors. 

The  ideal  upon  which  Locke  bases  his  physical  train¬ 
ing  is  also  that  of  formal  discipline,  and  has  since  been 
generally  known  as  the  ‘ hardening  process.’  His  advice 
concerning  this  part  of  a  pupil’s  training  might  be 
abridged  as  follows  :  — 

“Most  Children’s  Constitutions  are  either  spoil’d  or  at  least 
harm’d  by  Cockering  and  Tenderness.  The  first  Thing  to  be  taken 
Care  of  is  that  Children  be  not  too  warmly  clad  or  cover'd ,  Winter  or 
Summer.  The  Face  when  we  are  born,  is  no  less  tender  than  any 
other  Part  of  the  Body.  ’Tis  Use  alone  hardens  it,  and  makes  it 
more  able  to  endure  the  Cold.  I  will  also  advise  his  Feet  to  he 
wash'd  every  Day  in  cold  Water,  and  to  have  his  Shoes  so  thin  that 
they  might  leak  and  let  in  Water,  whenever  he  comes  near  it.  I 
should  advise  him  to  play  in  the  Wind  and  Sun  without  a  Hat.  His 
Diet  ought  to  be  very  plain  and  simple,  —  if  he  must  needs  have 
Flesh,  let  it  be  but  once  a  Day,  and  of  one  Sort  at  a  Meal  without 
other  Sauce  than  Hunger.  His  Meals  should  not  be  kept  constantly 
to  an  Hour.  Let  his  Bed  be  hard ,  and  rather  Quilts  than  feathers, 
—  hard  Lodging  strengthens  the  Parts.” 

Effects  of  Locked  Educational  Theories.  —  The  intel¬ 
lectual  education  advocated  by  Locke  in  his  Conduct  of 
the  Understanding  is  evidently  very  different  in  content 
and  method  from  that  in  the  Thoughts.  And  although 
the  Thoughts ,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  arose  from 
special  circumstances,  it  is  from  this  work,  rather  than 
the  Conduct ,  that  the  educational  position  of  Locke  has 
ordinarily  been  estimated.  In  consequence,  he  has  been 
classed  by  most  educational  writers  as  a  realist  of  the 
humanistic  or  the  sense  type,  with  leanings  toward 
Montaigne  or  Comenius,  according  to  which  set  of  ideas 
seemed  to  have  been  most  emphasized  in  this  work.1 
In  truth,  if  we  regard  only  the  intellectual  education  of 
Locke’s  Thoughts  and  the  resemblance  it  bears  in  inci- 

1  See  pp.  256-259  and  287-289. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  RATIONALISM  309 


dentals  or  details  to  the  recommendations  of  the  realists, 
there  is  sufficient  reason  for  these  classifications.  On 
similar  grounds,  Locke  might  be  placed  in  the  ‘  natural¬ 
istic  *  class  with  Rousseau,  who,  while  criticizing  him 
severely  at  times,  admits  a  great  indebtedness  to  him 
and  has  clearly  taken  many  ideas  from  him  with  little 
modification. 

Locke  as  the  Advocate  of  Formal  Discipline.  —  But, 
although  Locke  stands  in  the  apostolic  succession  of 
great  educational  theorists,  selecting  from  the  realists 
and  influencing  the  naturalists,  these  interpretations 
cannot  be  considered  at  all  adequate  or  in  harmony 
with  the  whole  spirit  of  Locke’s  rationalistic  philosophy 
or  his  works  upon  other  subjects.  His  peculiar  point 
of  view  is  exhibited  in  the  Conduct ,  which  was  originally 
intended  as  an  additional  chapter  and  an  application  of 
the  Essay ,  and  in  the  positions  taken  on  physical  and 
moral  training  in  the  Thoughts.  And  the  idea  he  gives 
here  of  training  the  mind  by  means  of  mathematics  and 
other  subjects  so  as  to  cultivate  *  general  power,’  to¬ 
gether  with  his  ‘denial  of  desires  *  in  moral  education 
and  the  ‘  hardening  process  ’  in  physical  training,  would 
seem  to  make  Locke  the  first  writer  to  advocate  the 
doctrine  of  ‘  formal  discipline.’ 

Adherents  of  this  theory  hold  that  the  study  of  certain 
subjects  yields  results  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  effort 
expended,  and  gives  a  power  that  may  be  applied  in  any 
direction.  It  has  been  argued  by  formal  disciplinarians, 
accordingly,  that  every  one  should  take  these  all-impor¬ 
tant  studies,  regardless  of  his  interest,  ability,  or  purpose 
in  life,  and  that  all  who  are  unfitted  for  these  particular 
subjects  are  not  qualified  for  the  higher  duties  and 
responsibilities,  and  are  unworthy  of  educational  con¬ 
sideration.  These  subjects  are  usually  held  to  be  the 
classic  languages,  to  improve  the  ‘  faculty  of  memory,’ 
and  mathematics  to  sharpen  the  ‘  faculty  of  reason,’ 
although  strenuous  efforts  have  been  made  by  the 
scientists  and  others  1  to  meet  this  argument  by  point- 

1  See  Proceedings  of  the  International  Congress  of  Charities ,  1893. 


Position  of 
the  formal 
discipli¬ 
narians. 


3io 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  effect  of 
formal  disci¬ 
pline  upon 
the  English 
grammar 
and  public 
schools  and 
the  universi¬ 
ties,  the 
German 
Gymnasien, 
and  the 
high  schools, 
colleges,  and 
universities 
in  the  United 
States. 


But  Locke’s 
formal  disci¬ 
pline  was  not 
a  defense  of 
the  public 
schools,  but 
arose  from 
his  desire  to 
root  out  the 
traditional 
and  false, 
and  is  con¬ 
nected  with 


ing  out  the  *  formal  discipline  ’  in  their  own  favorite 
studies. 

This  doctrine  of  the  formal  discipline  has  had  a  tre¬ 
mendous  effect  upon  each  stage  of  education  in  practi¬ 
cally  every  country  and  during  every  period  almost  up 
to  the  last  decade,  when  a  decided  reaction  began.1 
The  formal  classicism  of  the  English  grammar  and 
public  schools  and  universities,  and  of  the  German 
Gymnasien ,  afford  excellent  examples  of  the  influence  of 
formal  discipline.  While  in  the  United  States  a  newer 
and  more  flexible  society  has  enabled  changes  to  be 
more  readily  made,  but  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
Greek,  Latin,  and  mathematics  made  up  most  of  the 
course  in  high  schools,  colleges,  and  universities,  and 
until  very  recently  the  effete  portion  of  arithmetic  and 
the  husks  of  formal  grammar  were  defended  in  our  ele¬ 
mentary  education  upon  the  score  of  ‘formal  discipline.’ 
But,  with  the  growth  of  science,  the  abandonment  of  the 
‘faculty’  psychology,2  and  the  development  of  educa¬ 
tional  theory,  the  curriculum  has  everywhere  been 
broadened,  and  the  content  of  studies  rather  than  the 
process  of  acquisition  has  come  to  be  emphasized. 

It  should,  however,  be  recognized  that  Locke  did  not 
defend,  but  vigorously  assailed,  the  grammatical  and 
linguistic  grind  in  the  English  public  schools.  3  His 
attitude  toward  formal  discipline  sprang  from  his  desire 
to  root  out  the  traditional  and  false,  rather  than  to 
support  the  narrow  humanistic  curricula  of  the  times. 

Section  VII.  E.  B.  Andrews  makes  this  argument  even  for  the  study  of 
Sociology. 

1See  Adams,  Herbartian  Psychology ,  Chap.  V;  Bagley,  Educative 
Process ,  Chaps.  XIII-XIV;  Horne,  Training  of  the  Will  (School  Review, 
XIII,  pp.  616-628);  O’Shea,  Education  as  Adjustment ,  Chaps.  XIII  and 
XIV;  Thorndike,  Educational  Psychology,  Chap.  VIII;  Wardlow,  Is 
Mental  Discipline  a  Myth?  ( Educational  Review,  XXXV,  pp.  22-32). 
Read  also  the  more  recent  investigations,  which  tend  to  show  that  we 
have  reacted  too  far.  See  the  contributions  of  Angell,  Pillsbury,  Judd, 
and  Ruediger  in  Educational  Review,  XXXVI,  pp.  1-43,  and  364-372, 
and  Winch  in  The  British  Journal  of  Psychology ,  Vol.  II,  pp.  284-293. 

2  See  Graves,  History  of  Education  before  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  196  and 
213,  for  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  *  faculty  ’  psychology. 

8  See  pp.  1 70-1 72. 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  RATIONALISM  3 1 1 


His  philosophy  and  educational  doctrines  grew  out  of 
his  purpose  to  aid  the  cause  of  liberty  and  reason,  and 
his  esteem  for  mathematics  as  an  intellectual  training 
shows  his  connection  with  Descartes.1  It  was,  more¬ 
over,  his  doctrine  that,  developed  to  an  extreme,  eventu¬ 
ated  in  the  destructive  philosophy  of  the  French  ration¬ 
alists  and  the  skepticism  of  Hume.  While,  therefore, 
Locke’s  imagery  of  the  tabula  rasa  and  his  disciplinary 
theory  have  had  an  influence  far  beyond  his  times,  it 
can  hardly  be  supposed  that  he  took  that  position  in  con¬ 
scious  support  of  the  conservative  formal  education  of 
the  English  schools.  He  was  in  this,  as  in  all  his  posi¬ 
tions,  a  radical  and  a  rationalist. 

Voltaire  and  the  Encyclopedists.  —  But  Rationalism  did 
not  in  England  take  the  same  direction  or  go  to  the  ex¬ 
treme  it  did  in  France.  While  the  French  were  slower 
than  the  English  to  revolt  against  absolutism  and  eccle- 
siasticism,  their  conditions  were  more  intolerable,  and 
when  the  outbreak  came,  it  was  much  more  acute.  As 
the  eighteenth  century  wore  on,  the  reaction  to  the  tra¬ 
ditional,  irrational,  and  formal  in  Church  and  State,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  to  the  fanaticism,  hypocrisy,  and 
formalism  of  Puritanism  and  Pietism  on  the  other,  grew 
and  became  popular.  Efforts  came  to  be  made  to  inter¬ 
pret  life  in  the  light  of  reason  and  to  overthrow  all 
customs  and  institutions  that  did  not  square  with  this 
test. 

The  rationalistic  movement,  which  had  started  in  Eng¬ 
lish  philosophic  thought,  was  here  popularized  and  put 
into  actual  practice.  The  sensationalism  and  rationalism 
of  Locke  were  greatly  developed  by  Montesquieu, 
Voltaire,  Diderot,  Condillac,  D’Alembert,  and  others  of 
the  French  ‘encyclopedists.’  The  most  keen  and  brilliant 
of  all  these  writers  was  Voltaire  (1694-1778),  who  well 


1  Locke  had  first  been  stimulated  by  Descartes,  who  was  reacting  from 
his  Jesuit  traditions.  The  effort  to  strip  off  preconceived  opinions  is  similar 
in  both,  and  while  Locke  rejects  the  « innate  ideas,’  to  whose  certainty 
Descartes  holds,  he  also  believes  in  mathematics  as  the  best  means  of 
disciplining  the  mind  and  of  getting  rid  of  the  false. 


the  rational¬ 
ism  of 
Descartes 
and  the 
skepticism 
of  Hume. 


The  French 
outbreak 
against 
absolutism 
was  more 
acute ;  it  was 
a  reaction  to 
the  tradition¬ 
alism  of 
Church  and 
State,  and  to 
the  fanati¬ 
cism  of  the 
Puritans. 


The  ration¬ 
alism  of 
Locke  was 
developed  by 
Voltaire  and 
the  ‘  encyclo¬ 
pedists.' 


312 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


The  rational¬ 
istic  attitude 
toward  the 
Church  and 
the  tradi¬ 
tional  school 
systems. 


Rationalism 
reacted  too 
far,  and 
degenerated 
into  anarchy 
and 

skepticism. 


The 

despotism  of 
the  Church 
was  replaced 
by  the  dog¬ 
matism  of  the 
intellectual 
few. 


serves  as  a  type  of  the  whole  movement.  With  matchless 
wit  and  literary  skill,  in  a  remarkable  range  of  writings, 
he  championed  reason  against  the  traditional  institutions 
of  State  and  Church.  Voltaire’s  chief  object  of  attack  was 
the  powerful  Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  at  this  time 
seemed  to  stand  seriously  in  the  way  of  all  liberty,  individ¬ 
ualism  and  progress,  and  the  slogan  with  which  he  often 
closed  his  letters  was,  “  crush  the  infamous  thing.”  The 
Protestant  beliefs  he  likewise  repudiated  as  irrational. 
The  other  rationalistic  writers  had  similar  doctrines,  and 
although  the  details  of  their  ideas  are  hardly  worthy  of 
consideration  here,  they  all  produced  writings  upon  edu¬ 
cation.  In  these  they  freely  criticized  the  traditional 
school  systems,  and  proposed  new  theories  of  organiza¬ 
tion,  content,  and  method  that  must  later  have  assisted 
to  demolish  the  existing  theory  and  practice  in  France. 

Thus  Rationalism  sought  to  destroy  despotism,  super¬ 
stition,  and  hypocrisy,  and  to  establish  in  their  place 
freedom  in  action,  justice  in  society,  and  toleration  in 
religion.  But  in  casting  away  the  old,  it  swung  to  the 
opposite  extreme  and  degenerated  into  anarchy  and  skep¬ 
ticism,  and  at  times  even  into  materialism  and  license. 
In  their  fight  against  the  despotic  ecclesiasticism,  the 
rationalists  failed  to  distinguish  it  from  Christianity,  and 
wished  in  its  place  to  create  a  religion  of  reason  or  na¬ 
ture.  Their  real  opposition  to  the  Church,  however,  was 
because  it  was  irrational  rather  than  because  it  was  insin¬ 
cere,  and  they  felt  that  it  might  have  a  mission  with  the 
masses,  who  were  too  dull  and  uneducated  to  be  able  to 
reason.  So  while  Rationalism  wielded  a  mighty  weapon 
against  the  fettering  of  the  human  intellect,  it  cared  little 
about  improving  the  condition  of  the  lower  classes,  who 
were  sunk  in  poverty  and  ignorance,  and  universally 
oppressed.  It  endeavored  to  replace  the  traditionalism 
and  despotism  of  the  clergy  and  monarch  with  the  tyr¬ 
anny  and  dogmatism  of  an  intellectual  few.  While 
brilliant,  the  movement  was  also  artificial  and  stilted. 
Morality  came  to  be  merely  a  veneer,  —  an  observance 
of  proper  forms.  The  most  vicious  living  was  tolerated, 


EDUCATIONAL  INFLUENCES  OF  RATIONALISM  3 1 3 


providing  appearances  were  maintained.  There  came 
about  merely  the  exchange  of  one  kind  of  formalism  for 
another. 

The  Hardening  of  the  Puritan,  Pietistic,  and  Rational¬ 
istic  Movements.  —  Hence  the  reactions  to  formalism  in 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  eventually 
hardened  in  each  case  into  formalism  of  a  new  type. 
Puritanism  and  Pietism  to  a  great  extent  deteriorated 
into  fanaticism  and  hypocrisy,  while  Rationalism  spread 
into  skepticism  and  looseness  of  living.  But  during  this 
period,  as  at  other  times  in  history,  there  was  not  a  com¬ 
plete  return  to  the  point  of  departure.  The  stimulus  in 
religion  and  political  conditions  disappeared  again,  but 
it  not  only  left  behind  important  by-products  for  society 
and  education,  but  it  also  prepared  the  way  for  a  higher 
development  in  the  future. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 

I.  Sources 

Descartes,  R.  Meditations. 

Locke,  J.  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  (edited  by  Fowler),  and 
Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education  (edited  by  Quick) . 
Richter,  A.  August  Hermann  Francke ,  Kurzer  und  Einf ditiger 
Unterricht  (Pt.  X  of  Neudrucke  Padagogischer  Schriften). 

II.  Authorities 

Bagley,  W.  C.  The  Educative  Process.  Chaps.  XIII-XIV. 
Bourne,  H.  R.  F.  The  Life  of  John  Locke.  Vol.  II,  pp.  253-269. 
Browning,  O.  Educational  Theories.  Chap.  VII. 

Compayre,  G.  History  of  Pedagogy.  Pp.  194-21 1. 

Erdmann,  J.  E.  History  of  Philosophy  (translated  by  Hough). 

Vol.  II,  pp.  104-116  and  153-170- 
Fowler,  T.  fohn  Locke .  Chaps.  I-X. 

Francke,  K.  German  Literature  as  Deter  muted  by  Social  Forces. 
Chaps.  VI-VIII. 

Fraser,  A.  C.  Locke.  Pts.  I  and  II. 

Kramer,  G.  August  Her  matin  Francke ;  ein  Lebensbild. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Educational  Opinion  from  the  Renaissance.  Chap. 
XV. 

Leitch,  J.  Practical  Educationalists  and  their  Systems.  Pp.  1—5 1  • 
Lowell,  E.  J.  Eve  of  the  French  Revolution. 


Puritanism 
and  Pietism 
deteriorated 
into  fanati¬ 
cism,  and 
Rationalism 
into 

skepticism. 


314 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


Macdonald,  F.  Studies  in  the  France  of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau. 
May,  T.  E.  De7nocracy  in  Europe.  Vol.  II,  Chap.  XII. 

Monroe,  P.  Text-hook  in  the  History  of  Education.  Chaps.  VIII 
and  IX. 

M unroe,  J.  P.  The  Educational  Ideal.  Pp.  106-118. 

Nohle,  E.  History  of  the  Ger?nan  School  System  (Report  of  the 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1897-98,  pp.  45-62). 
O’Shea,  M.  V.  Education  as  Adjustment.  Chaps.  XIII-XIV. 
Paulsen,  F.  German  Education.  Bk.  III. 

Quick,  R.  H.  Educational  Reformers.  Chap.  XIII. 

Russell,  J.  E.  German  Higher  Schools.  Pp.  60-66. 

Schlosser,  F.  C.  History  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  Bk.  I,  Chaps. 
II  and  III. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Educational  Psychology.  Chaps.  Ill  and  VIII. 
Williams,  S.  G.  History  of  Modern  Education.  Chap.  X. 


CHAPTER  XX 


THE  PROGRESS  BEFORE  MODERN  TIMES 

The  Middle  Ages.  —  It  may  be  well  now  to  pause  at 
the  gateway  of  modern  civilization  and  education  and 
make  a  brief  survey  of  the  progress  that  has  taken  place 
since  pre-mediaeval  days.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  it 
has  been  seen  that  the  key-note  was  adherence  to  author¬ 
ity  and  preparation  for  the  life  to  come.  Individualism 
was  mostly  repressed,  and  intellectual  training  was  held 
within  the  confines  of  a  few  activities  of  a  stereotyped 
sort.  The  cultural  products  of  Greece  and  Rome  largely 
disappeared  or  were  deprived  of  their  vitality,  and  all 
civilization  was  restricted,  fixed,  and  formal. 

The  Awakening.  —  But  the  human  spirit  could  not  be 
forever  held  in  bondage,  and,  after  almost  a  millennium 
of  repression  and  uniformity,  various  factors  that  had 
accumulated  within  the  Middle  Ages  produced  an  intel¬ 
lectual  awakening.  Some  expression  of  individualism 
was  once  more  attained,  and  the  classics  of  Greece  and 
Rome  were  again  sought  to  nourish  the  renewed  vigor. 
This  period  of  intellectual  restoration  has  been  described 
by  the  word  ‘  Renaissance,’  and  its  vitality  lasted  during 
the  fifteenth  century  in  Italy  and  to  the  close  of  the  six¬ 
teenth  in  the  Northern  countries.  By  the  dawn  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  however,  it  had  everywhere  degen¬ 
erated  into  ‘  Ciceronianism.’  This  constituted  a  formal¬ 
ism  almost  as  dense  as  that  it  had  superseded,  except 
that  linguistic  and  literary  studies  had  replaced  dialectic 
and  theology. 

A  little  later  than  the  spread  of  the  Renaissance 
through  the  North,  yet  overlapping  it  somewhat,  came 
the  allied  movement  of  the  ‘  Reformation.’  This  grew  in 
part  out  of  the  disposition  of  the  Northern  Renaissance 

315 


The  key-note 
of  the  Middle 
Ages  was 
authority  and 
repression. 


The  period 
of  intellectual 
awakening, 
or  the  ‘  Re¬ 
naissance,’ 
degenerated 
into  Cicero¬ 
nianism  ; 


the  ‘  Reform¬ 
ation,’  or  the 
religious  and 
theological 
awakening, 


3i6 


A  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


hardened 
into  for¬ 
malism  ; 


and  in  the 
seventeenth 
century  the 
search  for 
4  real  things,’ 
or  4  realism,’ 
arose. 


Associated 
with  realism 
came  the 
religious  and 
political 
awakening 
that  took 
the  forms  of 
Puritanism, 
Pietism,  and 
Rationalism, 
which  also 
became 
formal  and 
degenerate. 


Thus  was  the 
way  prepared 
for  the  com¬ 
plete  reaction 
of  Rousseau 
and  the 
French 
Revolution. 


to  turn  to  social  and  moral  account  the  revived  intelli¬ 
gence  and  learning.  A  movement  to  reform  church 
practice  and  doctrine  appeared  in  the  Protestant  revolts 
and  the  Catholic  reaction.  Yet  here  also  the  revival 
abandoned  its  mission,  and  the  tendency  to  rely  upon 
reason  rather  than  dogma  hardened  into  formalism  and 
a  distrust  of  individualism. 

Again,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  apparently  as  an 
outgrowth  of  the  same  forces  as  produced  the  humanis¬ 
tic  and  religious  revivals  of  the  two  preceding  centuries, 
came  the  movement  known  as  *  realism.’  When  the 
Renaissance  and  Reformation  had  deteriorated  into  nar¬ 
row  Ciceronianism  on  the  one  hand  and  dogmatic  formal¬ 
ism  on  the  other,  the  activity  of  the  times  took  the  form 
of  a  search  for  *  real  things.’  By  this  at  first  was  merely 
intended  a  broader  humanism  and  an  effort  to  realize 
the  idea  back  of  the  word,  but  it  came  before  long  to  be 
expanded  into  a  desire  to  deal  with  concrete  objects. 
In  a  small  and  crude  way  the  modern  scientific  move¬ 
ment  had  begun. 

Preparation  for  Rousseau  and  the  French  Revolu¬ 
tion.  —  Associated  with  this  realistic  tendency,  on  the 
religious  and  political  sides  came  a  quickening  known 
in  various  forms  and  countries  as  Puritanism,  Pietism, 
and  Rationalism.  These  movements  went  on  through 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  but  eventually 
degenerated  into  fanaticism  and  hypocrisy  or  skepticism 
and  anarchy. 

While  it  can  be  seen  that  the  revival  in  each  of  these 
periods  lapsed  and  hardened  once  more  into  a  new  sort 
of  formalism,  something  in  every  era  was  accomplished 
for  progress,  and  the  social  pendulum  never  swung  back 
as  far  as  the  point  from  which  it  had  started.  Thus 
was  the  way  opened  for  the  absolute  break  from  tradi¬ 
tion  and  authority  that  occurred  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  At  that  time  came  Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau  (1712-1776)  and  the  extreme  reaction 
from  all  that  had  been  built  up  during  the  centuries  pre¬ 
ceding.  Of  this  complete  repudiation  of  the  past  and 


THE  PROGRESS  BEFORE  MODERN  TIMES  317 

of  the  existing  order  of  society,  voiced  by  the  Swiss- 
French  philosopher,  the  most  violent  and  marked  symp¬ 
tom  is  found  in  the  French  revolution. 

The  Modern  Spirit.  —  This  destruction  of  the  entire 
social  fabric,  while  most  disastrous  and  costly  at  the 
time,  was  an  inevitable  result  of  the  unwillingness  to  re¬ 
shape  society  in  accordance  with  changing  ideals  and 
conditions,  and  out  of  the  ruins  grew  a  nobler  structure. 
The  social  world  must  have  come  to  an  end,  had  it 
paused  with  Rousseau  and  the  French  upheaval,  but 
through  this  very  demolition  was  ushered  in  the  spirit 
of  the  nineteenth  century  together  with  modern  civiliza¬ 
tion  and  progress.  Individualism  had  at  length  tri¬ 
umphed  and  for  a  time  ground  authority  under  its  heel, 
but  when  this  extremity  had  been  passed,  the  problem 
became  how  to  harmonize  the  individual  with  society, 
and  how  to  develop  personality  progressively  in  keeping 
with  its  environment.  That  constituted  the  task  for  the 
modern  reformers,  and  is  the  underlying  desideratum  for 
which  modern  society  and  education  have  ardently  been 
striving. 


Out  of  the 
ruins  grew 
modern 
civilization 
and  the 
effort  to  har¬ 
monize  the 
individual 
with  society. 


INDEX 


Abbot,  6  (footnote). 

ABC  shooters,  86  (footnote). 

Abelard,  53,  57,  79,  80. 

Academiae,  218. 

Academies,  in  England,  291,  298;  in 
America,  174,  292  f.,  298. 
Academy,  with  Milton,  256,  291,  298 ; 

with  Comenius,  278,  282. 
Acquaviva,  Claudio,  210,  220. 

Adagia,  151. 

Adams,  George  Burton,  quoted,  1,  107. 
Adnotationes,  of  Valla,  129,  151. 
Adolescentia,  of  Wimpfeling,  149. 
iEmuli,  218. 

iEneas  Sylvius,  130,  13 1,  132  f.,  143 
(footnote),  162. 

Africa,  of  Petrarch,  116. 

Agricola,  147  f.,  149. 

Albertus  Magnus,  54,  73. 

Albigenses,  72,  179  (footnote). 
Albrecht  V,  of  Bavaria,  236. 

Alcuin,  28,  29,  30,  32,  33. 

Alexander  of  Hales,  54,  73. 

Alexandria,  43,  76. 

Alfonso  of  Naples,  123. 

Alfred,  education  under,  36  ff. 
Algazzali,  42. 

Alsted,  Johann  Heinrich,  275. 

Altdorf,  university  of,  202. 

Alva,  duke  of,  199,  208. 

A.  M.  D.  G.,  221. 

America,  education  in,  199  f. 
Anabaptists,  184  (footnote). 

Andreae,  275. 

Angelique,  Mere,  224  (footnote). 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  The,  38. 
Anhalt-Kothen.  See  Kothen. 

Anselm,  51. 

Anthony,  6. 

Antidotarium,  90. 

4  Apprentice  ’  92,  97. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  54  f.,  73. 


Aretino,  120  (footnote). 

Arezzo,  university  of,  81. 

Aristotle,  18,  20,  41,  42,  115,  263,  264. 
Arithmetic,  in  pagan  course,  15,  18. 
Armenschule,  300  ff. 

Arnauld,  224  (footnote),  226,  227. 

Art,  mediaeval,  103. 

Asceticism,  in  Christianity,  5. 

Ascham,  Roger,  164,  166  f.,  243. 

Asser,  37. 

Assimilation,  key  to  Middle  Ages,  3. 
Astronomy,  in  pagan  course,  15;  in 
later  course,  17. 

Athanasius,  7. 

Atrium,  273. 

Auctarium,  274  (footnote). 

Augsburg,  161  (footnote),  268;  peace 
of,  183  (footnote). 

Augustine,  8  (footnote). 

Augustine.  See  St.  Augustine. 
Augustinians,  8,  181. 

Austin  friars,  74. 

Authority,  insistence  upon,  219. 
Averroes,  43,  45. 

Avicenna,  42,  90. 

Avignon,  papal  court  at,  180. 

Aymeri  de  Nar bonne,  101. 

Bacon,  Francis,  94,  254,  255,  263  ff., 
267,  269,  270,  275,  285. 

Bacon,  Friar,  90,  94. 

Baeda,  32,  38. 

Balsamentum,  276  (footnote). 
Barbarisms,  of  Donatus,  89. 

Barbara,  13 1. 

4  Barbarossa,’  82. 

Barlaam,  118. 

Barzizza,  117,  121,  123. 

Basedow,  286. 

Basel,  150. 

Basil,  6,  7. 

Bateus,  273,  275. 


320 


INDEX 


Bee,  13,  31. 

Bembo,  130,  135,  161. 

Benedict,  7,  8,  9,  12. 

Benedict  of  Aniane,  8. 

Benedict  XII,  94. 

Beowulf,  Story  of,  101. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  50. 

B6rulle,  222. 

Best  Method  of  Opening  an  Institution 
of  Learning,  159. 

Birmingham,  university  of,  293. 
Bobbio,  12. 

Boccaccio,  93,  116  ff.,  118,  119,  137. 
Bodinus,  275. 

Boethius,  16,  38,  89 ;  De  Musica,  21. 
Bologna,  university  of,  78  f.,  81,  82,  150. 
Bona ventura,  50,  54,  73. 

Boniface,  7. 

Bossuet,  221. 

Boston  Latin  School,  173. 

Bremen,  education  at,  198. 

Brethren  of  the  Common  Lot,  145  ff. 
Brinsley,  John,  172. 

Brothers  of  Sincerity,  42  f. 

Bruni,  120,  131,  132,  133,  143  (foot¬ 
note). 

Brunswick,  schools  at,  188,  198. 
Budaeus,  143,  166. 

Burgerschule,  Francke’s,  300  fL 
Bugenhagen,  educational  work  of,  188, 
198,  201. 

Burckhardt,  quoted,  113  f. 

Burgher,  class,  97  ;  schools,  97  fL 

Cairo,  43. 

Calasanzio,  Jose,  229. 

Calderon,  221. 

Calvin,  143,  191  f.,  204,  224;  educa¬ 
tional  work  of,  192  ff. 

Calvinist  education,  spread  of,  193  f. 
Cambrai,  146. 

Cambridge,  university  of,  81,  84, 163  f., 
202,  250,  263,  293. 

Canisius,  228. 

Canterbury,  13. 

Canterbury  Tales,  102  (footnote). 
Canzoniere,  115. 

Carlstadt,  184  (footnote). 

Carmelites,  74. 

Carthusians,  8. 

Cassian,  7. 


Cassiodorus,  16,  32. 

Cathedral  schools,  under  Charle¬ 
magne,  30  f. 

Catholic  education,  aim,  235 ;  organi¬ 
zation,  235  f. ;  content,  236 ; 
methods,  236  f. ;  results,  237. 

Celestine  III,  80. 

Cessatio,  84  f. 

Chanson  de  Roland,  64  f.,  101. 

Chansons  de  geste,  101. 

Chantry  schools,  98,  195. 

Charlemagne,  25  ff.,  63,  101,  104;  edu¬ 
cation  under,  27  ff. 

Charles  Gustavus,  277  (footnote). 

Charles  V,  183. 

Charles  VIII,  142. 

Charterhouse,  173. 

Cheke,  Sir  John,  164. 

Cheltenham,  173. 

Chivalric  education,  preparatory  stages, 
65  ff. ;  knighthood,  67  f.;  training  of 
women,  68 ;  effects  of,  68  ff . 

Chivalry,  64  ff. 

Christian  Brothers,  228  ff.,  236 ;  educa¬ 
tional  aim,  229  f. ;  organization, 
230;  content  and  methods,  231  f. ; 
results,  232. 

Christian  Education,  Brief  Treatise  on, 
302. 

Christian  Education  of  Youth,  Zwingli’s 
treatise,  190  f. 

Christianity,  religion  of  Roman  world, 
4* 

Christ’s  Hospital,  173. 

Chrysoloras,  Emanuel,  119  ff.,  126. 

Cicero,  20,  176. 

Ciceronianism,  130, 136  f.,  160  f.,  213  f., 
243,  246,  315. 

Ciceronianus,  Dialogus,  130  (footnote), 
136,  151. 

Cistercians,  8. 

Cities,  growth  of,  96  f. 

Classe,  13. 

Classic  Letters,  159. 

Clement  XIV,  221  f. 

Clifton,  173. 

Cluny,  8,  13. 

Coadjutores  spirituales,  212. 

Code,  of  Justinian,  90. 

Ccenobitic,  6. 

Colberg,  290. 


INDEX 


321 


Colet,  150,  163,  167  ff.,  175. 

College  de  Guyenne,  144  f. 

College  de  la  Rive,  192,  193. 

College  de  Montaigu,  146,  149. 
Colleges,  175,  193,  201. 

Colleges,  Moorish,  41 ;  of  the  Jesuits, 
211  ff. 

Collegia  pietatis,  299. 

Colloquia,  of  Corderius,  144,  172,  174, 
192  ;  of  Erasmus,  150,  151,  158. 
Cologne,  university  of,  82,  163. 
Columba,  7. 

Comenius,  254,  255,  266,  271  ff.,  287, 
300. 

Commerce  in  the  Middle  Ages,  96. 
Conceptualism,  53. 

Concertatio,  218. 

Condillac,  311. 

Conduct  of  Schools,  231,  232. 

Conduct  of  the  Understanding,  Locke’s, 
257,  259,  287,  307  f.,  308,  309. 
Consiliarius,  88. 

Constance,  Council  of,  180. 
Constantinople,  taken  by  Venetians,  45 ; 

taken  by  Turks,  118. 

Constantinus  Africanus,  77. 
Constitutiones,  the  Jesuit,  210,  212,  213. 
Convent  of  New  Catholics,  234. 
Convictus,  214. 

Copernicus,  94,  262. 

Corbie,  13,  31. 

Corderius,  143  f.,  192. 

Cordova,  43,  76. 

Corneille,  221. 

Corporal  punishment,  166,  218,  285, 
288  f. 

Corpus  Juris  Canonici,  79  (footnote). 
Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  78,  79,  90. 
Corrector,  219. 

Correlation,  with  Comenius,  285. 
Counter-reformation,  208  (footnote). 
Court,  humanistic  influences  at  the, 
164. 

Court  schools,  123 ;  relation  to  the  uni¬ 
versities,  127  f. 

Croke,  Richard,  163. 

Croyland,  10,  13. 

Crusades,  65,  100  f.,  104. 

Crusius,  161  (footnote). 

Cur  Deus  Homo,  52  (footnote). 

Czech,  275  (footnote). 

Y 


D’Alembert,  311. 

Dante,  93,  114  (footnote). 

D ’Arezzo,  120  (footnote). 

‘Dark  Ages,’  12,  103. 

Decamerone,  102  (footnote),  117. ' 
Decanus,  88. 

De  Civilitate,  151. 

De  Copia  Verborum,  150. 

Decretum  Gratiani,  79,  90. 

Decuriones,  218. 

De  Emendatione,  144,  192. 

De  Formando  Studio,  147  f. 

De  Geer,  Ludovic,  273. 

Degrees,  mediaeval  universities,  92  f. 

De  Ingenuis  Moribus,  121. 

De  Liberorum  Educatione,  130. 

De  V Institution  du  Prince,  143. 

Demia,  Charles,  229. 

De  Or  dine  Docendi,  121. 

De  Pueris,  15 1. 

De  Ratione,  15 1. 

Descartes,  Rene,  222,  224,  262,  31 1. 

De  Studiis  et  Literis,  120. 

De  Tradendis  Disciplinis,  166. 

De  Utilitate  Grcecce,  148. 

Deventer,  146,  147,  148,  149. 

De  V iris  lllus tribus,  1 16.  I 
Dialectic,  in  pagan  course,  15  ;  meaning 
of,  18. 

Dialogues  of  the  Dead,  234. 

Didactica  Magna,  273  (footnote), 
274  ff. 

Didacticum,  collegium,  276  (footnote), 
280. 

Diderot,  221,  311. 

Dietarum  Liber,  90. 

Digest,  of  Justinian,  90. 

Disciplinary  theory.  See  Formal  dis¬ 
cipline. 

Disputationes,  21 8.”" 

Disputation  of  Pippin,  29. 

‘  Doctor,’  92,  215. 

Doctor  scholasticus,  50. 

Dominicans,  8,  73  ff.,  221. 

Donation  of  Constantine,  129. 

Donatus,  20,  89. 

Don  Juan  of  Austria,  221. 

Dorpat,  university  of,  202. 

Dort,  synod  of,  199. 

‘  Double  translation,’  166  f. 

Dulwich,  173. 


322 


INDEX 


Duns  Scotus,  55. 

Dunstan,  8. 

Eck,  182. 

Education  of  Children,  247  f. 

Education  of  Girls,  233  f. 

Edward  VI,  195  ff.,  202. 

Einhard,  29. 

Eisleben,  155,  157,  187,  198. 

Elbing,  273. 

Elegantioe  Latince,  135. 

Elementarie,  Mulcaster’s,  250  ff. 
Elementary  education,  under  Charle¬ 
magne,  31  f. ;  under  Alfred,  37  £. ; 
under  Moslems,  44. 

Elizabeth,  queen,  167,  196. 
‘Eloquence/  as  educational  aim,  159. 
Elyot,  Sir  Thomas,  165,  166. 

Emile,  Rousseau’s,  259  (footnote). 
Empiricism,  241  (footnote),  262. 
Emulation,  in  Jesuit  education,  217  f. 
Encomium  Morice,  151. 

Encyclopedists,  31 1. 

Epistolce,  Petrarch’s,  116. 

Erasmus,  93,  148, 149  ff.,  156,  159,  161, 
163,  166,  168,  170,  171,  243. 
Erfurt,  university  of,  82,  145,  148,  181, 
300. 

Erigena,  Joannes  Scotus,  34,  49,  51. 
Ernst  the  Pious,  199,  289. 

Erotemata,  119. 

Essais,  Montaigne’s,  247. 

Essay  concerning  the  Human  Under¬ 
standing,  305,  309. 

Estiennes,  143. 

Ethics,  Aristotle’s,  89. 

Eton,  173,  250. 

Eucharist,  Zwingli’s  position  on  the, 
190,  204. 

Extemi,  13,  212. 

Fabliaux,  102. 

Factors  in  modem  civilization,  1. 
Faculties,  88. 

‘Faculty,’  309,  310. 

Febrium,  Liber,  90. 

Federigo  da  Montefeltro,  123. 

Fenelon,  Francois,  233  ff.,  236. 

Ferrara,  121,  123,  127,  147. 

Ferrieres,  13. 

Feudalism,  63  f.,  100. 


Filelfo,  121,  124  (footnote),  129. 

Fisher,  Bishop,  163. 

Fleury,  13. 

Florence,  1x9,  120,  122,  123,  128,  142, 
150,  162. 

Fontenelle,  13. 

‘Formal  discipline,’  306  ff. 

Formalism,  135  f.,  176,  203  f.,  237. 
‘Forms/  265. 

Francis  I,  142,  191. 

Franciscans,  8,  72  ff.,  222. 

Fran  eke,  August  Hermann,  286,  300  ff.; 
aim  in  education,  301  f.;  course, 

302  f . ;  methods,  303 ;  influence  of, 

303  f- 

Franckesche  Stiftungen,  303  f. 
Frankfurt,  diet  of,  267. 

Franks,  25  ff. 

Frederick  I,  79,  82. 

Frederick  II,  44,  77. 

Friars,  mendicant,  72. 

Froebel,  271,  287. 

Fiirstenschulen,  153  ff.,  175,  201,  290. 
Fulda,  10,  13,  31,  33,  34- 
Fust,  Johann,  140. 

Galileo,  94,  262. 

Gandersheim,  13. 

Gargantua,  244  ff. 

Gaunilo,  52  (footnote). 

Geert  Geerts,  149  (footnote). 

‘  General/  the  Jesuit,  21 1. 

Geneva,  Calvin  at,  192  ff. 

Geometry,  in  pagan  course,  15;  later, 
18. 

*  Germanise  praeceptor/  149,  157. 
German  universities,  classics  in,  145. 
Gerson,  55  (footnote). 

Gesta  Romanorum,  12. 

Giessen,  university  of,  267  f.,  272. 

Gilds,  92,  97. 

Gild  schools,  97  f.,  195. 

Giocosa,  la  casa,  124. 

Glastonbury,  13. 

Gnostics,  5. 

Gottingen,  education  at,  188;  univer¬ 
sity  of,  293. 

Goldberg,  188. 

Goliardi,  86. 

Golias,  86  (footnote). 

Gonzaga,  124. 


INDEX 


323 


Gotha,  education  at,  198  f. 

Gouv6a,  144. 

Governour,  The,  165. 

Grammar,  in  pagan  course,  1 5 ;  mean¬ 
ing  of,  17. 

Grammar  schools,  in  England,  170  fif., 
175,  197  f->  201,  291;  in  America, 
173  f- 

Grammaticce  Facilioris  Pracepta,  272. 
Granada,  43,  76. 

Gratian,  79. 

Gratis  accepistis,  213. 

Great  Didactic ,  The.  See  Didactica 
Magna. 

Greek,  in  Italy,  117  ff.;  at  Oxford, 
162  f. ;  at  Cambridge,  163  f. 
Gregorio  of  Tiferno,  142. 

Gregory  I,  the  Great,  8  (footnote),  38. 
Gregory  IX,  81  f. 

Grimbald,  37. 

Grimma,  155.' 

Grocyn,  William,  150,  162,  165,  168. 
Groot,  Geert,  146. 

Guarino,  Battista,  109  (footnote),  121, 
131,  132,  143  (footnote). 

Guarino  da  Verona,  120  f.,  123,  124, 
126,  128,  131. 

Guericke,  262. 

Gymnasien,  153  ff.,  157,  175,  201,  290. 

Habita,  Authentic,  82,  83. 

Hailey  bury,  173. 

Halle,  university  of,  293,  300. 
Hamburg,  schools  at,  188. 

‘Hardening  process,’  252. 

Harold,  king  of  England,  70. 

Harrow,  173.  . 

Hartlib,  Samuel,  255  (footnote). 
Hecker,  291,  304. 

Hegius,  Alexander,  148. 

Heidelberg,  university  of,  82,  83,  145, 
147,  148,  156,  272. 

Helmstadt,  university  of,  202. 

Henry  III,  of  England,  85. 

Henry  VIII,  174,  195  fif.,  202,  204. 
Heptamcron,  102  (footnote). 

Herbart,  271,  287. 

Herborn,  college  of,  271  f.,  272,  275. 
Hermits,  first  Christian,  5  i. 
Hermonymus,  142. 

Hersfeld,  13. 


Hessen-Cassel,  education  at,  198. 
Hessen-Darmstadt,  education  at,  198. 
Hieronymian  schools,  145  fif.,  154,  175, 
213. 

Hirschau,  13,  31. 

Hobbes,  298  (footnote). 

Holland,  school  system  of,  193,  199  f. 
Holstein,  education  at,  188,  198,  267. 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  26. 

Hornbach,  161  (footnote). 

Hughes,  quoted,  214  (footnote). 
Humanism,  108  f. ;  in  Italy,  no  fif.; 
in  North,  140  fif. ;  in  France, 
141  fif. ;  in  Teutonic  countries,  145 
ff. ;  in  England,  1 61  fif. 
Humanistic  education,  ideals  of,  130  fif., 
174  f. ;  content,  132  fif.,  175  f. ; 
method,  134 ;  organization,  134  f., 
175;  results,  135  fif.,  176. 

Hume,  31 1. 

Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester,  161. 
Huss,  Johann,  93,  180. 

‘Idols,’  Bacon’s,  264. 

II  Convito,  Dante’s,  114  (footnote). 

Ilf  eld,  189. 

‘Induction,’  263  fif.,  270,  283  fif.,  288. 
‘Indulgence,’  182. 

Industrial  education,  97. 

Inferiora  studia,  212  fif. 

Informatorium  Skoly  Materske,  275. 
Ingoldstadt,  university  of,  145,  148. 
‘Innate  ideas,’  305,  31 1  (footnote). 
Innocent  IV,  100. 

Institutes,  of  Justinian,  90. 

Isaac  Judaeus,  90. 

Isidoneus  Germanicus,  149. 

Isidore  of  Seville,  16. 

Jacqueline  Pascal,  226,  228,  233. 
Jansenists,  222,  223  fif.,  228,  237. 

Janua  Linguce  Latince  Reserata ,  272 
(footnote). 

Janua  Linguarum  Reserata,  272,  273, 
286. 

Janua  Rerum  Reserata,  276. 

Jena,  university  of,  145,  202,  268. 
Jerome,  7. 

Jesuit  education,  aim  of,  210;  organi¬ 
zation,  210  fif.;  content,  213  fif.; 
method,  215  ff. ;  results,  219  fif. 


324 


INDEX 


Jesuits,  155,  175,  209  ff.,  228,  229,  231, 
23s,  236. 

John  the  Saxon,  38. 

John  XXII,  94. 

John  XXIII,  94. 

‘Journeyman,’  92,  97. 

Juilly,  college  at,  223. 

Jurisdictio,  63  (footnote). 

‘Justification  by  faith,’  181,  191. 
Justinian’s  Decree,  4. 

Jus  ubique  docendi,  84. 

Kepler,  262. 

Klosterschulen,  154. 

‘Knowledge,’  as  educational  aim,  151, 
160,  277  f. 

Knox,  John,  194,  204. 

Konigsberg,  university  of,  145,  202. 
Kothen,  Ratich  at,  268,  269. 

Koran,  40,  44. 

Labyrinthus,  276  (footnote). 

Lamy,  223. 

Lancelot,  226,  227  f. 

Landesschulen,  154  (footnote). 

La  Salle,  228  ff. 

Lateinische  Hauptschule.  See  Schola 
Latina. 

Latimer,  William,  163. 

‘Latin  school’  of  Comenius,  276,  278, 
281  f. 

Lauingen,  161  (footnote). 

Lausanne,  college  at,  192. 

Laynez,  Diego,  209  (footnote),  210,  214. 
Leach,  quoted,  195  (footnote). 

Lecointe,  223. 

Lefevre,  175. 

Leipzig,  university  of,  145,  163,  300. 
Lelong,  223. 

Leo  X,  130,  135. 

Leszno,  272,  274,  275,  276,  277  (foot¬ 
note). 

Letter  to  Mayors  and  Aldermen,  184, 
187,  201. 

Liberatura,  69  (footnote). 

Libraries,  in  monasteries,  10  f. 

Liege,  146,  158. 

Lily,  William,  150,  169,  174. 

Linacre,  Thomas,  150,  162  f.,  165. 
Lisbon,  university  of,  81. 

Lissa.  See  Leszno. 


‘Little  Schools,’  224  ff. 

Liverpool,  university  of,  293. 

Locke,  246,  249,  252,  254,  256  ff.,  262, 
287  ff.,  292,  305  ff.,  312. 

Lollards,  180,  194  (footnote). 

London,  university  of,  293. 

Louis  VII,  80. 

Louis  XII,  142. 

Louis  XIV,  227,  290. 

Louvain,  146,  150,  158. 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  209  ff. 

Ludus  liter arius,  172. 

Liibeck,  education  at,  188. 

Luneburg,  290. 

L’uomo  universale,  114. 

Luther,  Martin,  93,  156,  175,  181  ff., 
201,  208;  religious  works  of,  183; 
educational  works,  183  f. ;  theory 
of  education,  184  ff. 

Luxembourg,  due  de,  221. 

McCabe,  quoted,  80. 

Magdeburg,  198,  268. 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  233,  235,  236. 
Malebranche,  223. 

Malmesbury,  13. 

Manchester,  university  of,  293. 
Mansfeld,  count  of,  157,  187. 

Mantua,  court  school  at,  123  ff. 
Manuscripts,  in  monasteries,  10  ff. 
Marburg,  university  of,  14s,  202. 
Marlborough,  173. 

Mary,  queen  of  England,  193, 196  (foot¬ 
note). 

Mary,  queen  of  Scots,  193,  208. 
Mascaron,  223. 

Massachusetts,  educational  act  of  1647, 
174,  200. 

Massillon,  223. 

‘Master,’  92,  97. 

‘Master-universities,’  81. 

Mechlin,  146. 

Mecklenburg,  education  at,  198. 
Medicean  library,  122  (footnote). 
Medici,  Cosimo  de’,  119, 122 ;  Lorenzo 
de’,  122  f. 

Meissen,  155. 

Melanchthon,  155,  157,  175,  187,  189, 
192,  198,  204,  243. 

Meminger,  161  (footnote). 

Memorizing,  216,  237. 


INDEX 


325 


Merchant  Taylors’,  98,  173,  250. 

Methodus  Lin  guar  um  Novissima,  273 
(footnote). 

Middle  Ages,  as  period  of  assimilation, 
if.;  as  period  of  repression,  2  f 
315. 

Milan,  142. 

Milton,  John,  246,  252,  254  ff.,  257, 
259,  298  f.. 

Minden,  education  at,  188. 

Minnesingers,  65,  102. 

Monasteries,  6;  effect  of,  9;  manu- 
scriptsrin,  10  ff . ;  original  writings 
in,  12. 

Monastic  education,  organization  of, 
12;  ideals,  13;  content,  14  ff . ; 
methods,  19  ff. ;  results  of,  21  ff. ; 
under  Charlemagne,  30  f.,  32. 

Monasticism,  rise  of,  4 ;  coenobitic,  6  f . ; 
in  West,  6  f. ;  effects  of,  21  ff. 

‘Monitor,’  the  Jesuit,  211. 

Monologion,  Anselm’s,  51. 

Montaigne,  246  ff.,  250,  251,  252,  255, 
257,  258,  259,  287. 

Montanists,  5. 

Monte  Cassino,  12. 

Montesquieu,  311. 

Montpelier,  university  of,  82. 

‘Morality,’  as  educational  aim,  151, 
277  f. 

Moravian  Brethren,  271,  277  (foot¬ 
note),  279. 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  150,  162,  164. 

Moritz,  duke  of  Saxony,  154. 

Moslem  schools,  40  ff. 

‘Mother  School.’  See  School  of  In¬ 
fancy. 

Mulcaster,  Richard,  246,  250  ff.,  254, 
259- 

Music,  in  pagan  course,  15  ;  later,  19. 

Mysticism,  nature  and  rise  of,  47  f. ;  ed¬ 
ucation  in,  49 ;  development  of,  49. 

Nantes,  edict  of,  235. 

Naples,  142 ;  university  of,  78,  81. 

Nassau,  271. 

National  spirit,  growth  of,  100  f. 

‘Nationes,’  87. 

Nature,  method  of,  263  ff.,  270,  282. 

Neander,  educational  work  of,  189,  201, 
243. 


Nestorius,  41, 

New  Atlantis,  The,  265. 

Newton,  Isaac,  293. 

Niccolo  de’  Niccoli,  119  f. 

Niccolo  d’  Este,  123. 

Nicholas  V,  120,  129  f.,  135. 

Nicolaus  of  Salerno,  90. 

Nicolaus  Syocerus,  118  (footnote). 
Nicole,  226,  228. 

N  iebelungenlied,  102. 

Nivnitz,  271. 

Nominalism,  scholastic,  52  f. 
Northumbria,  8. 

Notre  Dame,  cathedral  school  at,  80. 
Novalese,  10. 

Novum  Organum,  263  ff.,  267. 
Nuremberg,  157. 

Oblati,  13. 

Odofredus,  91. 

Oratorians,  222  ff.,  235,  236. 

Orbis  P ictus,  274,  286,  287. 

Organon,  Aristotle’s,  89,  263. 

Orleans,  31. 

Osnabriick,  education  at,  188. 
Oxenstiem,  268. 

Oxford,  university  of,  81,  84  f.,^t62  f., 
202,  250,  293. 

Pachomius,  6,  7. 

Padua,  131,  150;  university  of,  81. 
Padagogium,  301,  302,  303,  304. 

‘  Page,’  stage  of  feudal  education,  66. 
Painting,  during  the  Renaissance,  108 
(footnote). 

Palace  school,  28  ff. 

Palatium,  273  (footnote),  274. 

Palencia,  university  of,  81. 

Pandects,  of  Justinian,  78  (footnote). 
Pansophia,  265  f.,  276  f.,  280,  284. 
Pansophica  Scholce  Delineatio,  276. 
Pantagruel,  244  ff. 

Paradisus  Animi,  276  (footnote). 

Paris,  university  of,  80  f.,  84,  85,  87, 
89,  94,  142,  146,  158. 

Parish  schools  under  Charlemagne,  30, 
31. 

Parsifal,  102. 

Pascal,  226,  227. 

Patak,  273,  274,  276,  282. 

Patrocinium,  63  (footnote). 


INDEX 


326 


Paul,  founder  of  hermit  life,  6 . 

Paul  the  Deacon,  28. 

Paul  III,  pope,  209. 

Pavia,  128,  147. 

Pedantry,  Montaigne’s,  247. 

Penstes,  Pascal’s,  227. 

Pestalozzi,  271,  287. 

Peter  of  Pisa,  28,  30. 

Peter  the  Lombard,  57,  80,  90. 
Petrarch,  93,  114  fL,  137. 

Pforta,  155. 

Philip  Augustus,  80,  83. 

Philip  II,  208. 

Philip  VI,  94. 

Philo,  48  (footnote). 

‘Phonetic’  method,  226. 

Piarists,  222,  228  f. 

Pietas  literata,  192. 

Pietists,  222,  290,  293,  298,  299  f., 
3i3- 

‘Piety,’  as  educational  aim,  151,  159, 

277  f- 

Pilato,  1 1 8. 

Pisa,  Council  of,  180. 

Pius  II,  1 2 1,  129  f. 

Pius  VII,  222. 

Platina,  quoted,  127. 

‘Pleasant  House,’  124  f.,  127. 

Plotinus,  48. 

Poetics,  Aristotle’s,  89. 

Poggio,  1 21,  124  (footnote),  129. 
Politics,  Aristotle’s,  89. 

Pomerania,  education  in,  188  f. 
Pomposa,  12. 

Porcia,  13 1. 

Port  Royal  Grammar,  226. 

Port  Royalist  education,  aim,  223  f. ; 
organization,  224 ;  content,  225  f. ; 
method,  226;  results,  227  f. 

Port  Royal  Logic,  226. 

Positions,  Mulcaster’s,  250  fL 
Praecarium,  63  (footnote). 

Praelectio,  216. 

Prague,  university  of,  82. 

‘Preceptor,’  the  Jesuit,  211. 
Predestination,  192. 

‘Prefect,’  the  Jesuit,  21 1. 

Priscian,  20,  89. 

Professi,  212  f. 

‘Professor,’  the  Jesuit,  92,  211. 
Proslogion,  52  (footnote). 


Protestant  education,  aim,  197;  or¬ 
ganization,  content,  and  method, 
197  fL ;  effect  of,  203  fL 

Provincial  Letters,  227. 

‘Provincial,’  the  Jesuit,  21 1. 

Pseudo-Dionysius,  48  f.,  162,  168. 

Ptolemy,  18,  21. 

‘Public’  schools  in  England,  172  f., 
291,  310. 

Puritan  education,  196  f.,  298. 

Puritans,  297,  298  fL,  305,  316. 

Quadrivialia,  89. 

Quintilian,  20,  176. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  33  f. 

Rabelais,  243  fL,  248,  254. 

Raoul  de  Cambrai,  64  f.,  101. 

Rashdall,  quoted,  3,  79. 

Ratich,  254,  266,  268  fL,  272,  275,  287, 
300. 

Rationalism,  262,  298,  305  fL,  316. 

Ratio  Studiorum,  210,  219,  231. 

Raymund  of  Toledo,  44. 

Realgymnasium,  304. 

Realism,  240,  316;  relation  to  the  Re¬ 
naissance,  240 ;  nature  of,  240  f . ; 
verbal  and  social,  242  flf. ;  effect 
of  earlier,  259  £f.  See  also  Sense 
realism. 

Realism,  scholastic,  52,  257  (footnote). 

Realists,  the  earlier,  242  flf. 

Realschulen,  303,  304. 

‘Rector,’  88,  21 1. 

Reformation,  107,  3x5  f. ;  causes  of, 
179  flf. ;  Luther’s  revolt,  181  flf.; 
Zwingli’s  revolt,  189  flf.;  Calvin’s 
revolt,  1 91  flf.;  Henry  VIII’s  re¬ 
volt,  194  flf. 

Regulation  of  Studies,  227. 

Reichenau,  13. 

Renaissance,  105,  107,  260,  315. 

Renan,  quoted,  44. 

Repetitio  mater  studiorum,  217. 

Repression,  key  to  Middle  Ages,  3. 

Reuchlin,  147  f.,  155. 

Reviews,  in  Jesuit  education,  217. 

Revival  of  Learning,  107  f. 

Reyher,  Andreas,  289. 

Rheims,  230. 

Rhetoric,  Aristotle’s,  89. 


INDEX 


327 


Rhetoric,  in  pagan  course,  15;  mean¬ 
ing  of,  18. 

Richard  the  Lionhearted,  70. 

Richelieu,  221. 

Ritterakademien,  290,  291. 

Ritwyse,  John,  169. 

Robert  of  Normandy,  77. 

Rollin,  Charles,  228. 

Rome,  university  of,  128,  150. 
Rosarium,  276  (footnote). 

Roscellinus,  52,  80. 

Rossall,  173. 

Rossleben,  175. 

Rostock,  university  of,  267. 

Rousseau,  248,  249,  259  (footnote), 

286,  316  f. 

Rugby,  173. 

Rule,  of  Benedict,  9;  of  St.  Francis,  72. 
Rupert  I,  83. 

St.  Albans,  13. 

St.  Augustine,  7,  16,  32. 

St.  Bartholomew’s  Day,  208. 

St.  Bruno,  8. 

St.  Charles,  Brethren  of,  229. 

St.  Cyran,  224,  225. 

St.  Gall,  10,  13. 

St.  Maur,  7. 

St.  Paul’s  School,  150,  168  ff. ;  173, 
196,  250. 

St.  Victor,  Hugo  and  Richard  of,  50. 

St.  Yon,  230. 

Salamanca,  university  of,  81,  209. 
Salerno,  university  of,  77,  81. 

Sapientice  Palatium.  See  Palatium. 
Saros-Patak.  See  Patak. 

Saxony,  the  elector  of,  157. 

Schenck,  161  (footnote). 

Schlettstadt,  148. 

S choice  Pansophicce  Delineatio,  273  (foot¬ 
note),  276. 

Schola  Latina,  301,  303,  304. 

Schola  Ludus,  274. 

Schola  Materni  Gremii,  278  (footnote). 
Scholares  vagantes,  86  (footnote). 
Schola  Scholarum,  280. 

Scholastici,  212. 

Scholasticism,  character  of,  50  f.  ;  his¬ 
tory  of,  50  ff. ;  tendency  of,  56  f. ; 
organization  and  content,  56  f.  ; 
method,  57  f.;  influences,  58  ff. 


Scholemaster,  The,  164,  166  f. 
Schoolmen,  50. 

School  of  Infancy,  The,  275  (footnote). 
Schulmcthodus,  Reyher’s,  289. 
Schulplan,  Melanchthon’s,  157. 
Schulvisitant,  Melanchthon  as,  157. 
Schwartzerd,  155  (footnote). 

Scotland,  parish  schools  of,  194,  200. 
Scriptorium,  11. 

Seminarium  Praceptorum,  301,  304. 
Semler,  291,  301,  304. 

Sense  realism,  development  of,  262  ff.; 
representatives  of,  263  ff. ;  in  ele¬ 
mentary  education,  289 ;  in  second¬ 
ary  schools,  289  ff. ;  in  universities, 
293  f. 

Sentenlice,  Peter  the  Lombard’s,  57, 
90. 

Sermon  on  Sending  Children  to  School, 
184,  187. 

Servetus,  204. 

Seven  Liberal  Arts,  15,  16. 

Sevigne,  Madame  de,  233,  235. 

Seville,  43,  76. 

Shrewsbury,  173. 

Sic  et  Non,  Abelard’s,  57,  79. 

Silius  Italicus,  117. 

Silva,  pansophic  collection,  277. 
‘Simultaneous’  method,  231. 

Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  164. 

Society  of  Jesus,  209  ff. 

Soest,  education  at,  188. 

‘  Solomon’s  House,’  265  f. 

Song  of  the  Open  Road,  86. 

Spener,  Philipp  Jakob,  299. 

‘  Squire,’  stage  of  feudal  education, 
66  f. 

Stockholm,  268. 

Strasburg,  155,  158,  187,  202. 

Stuart  kings,  196. 

Sturm,  Johann,  155,  158  ff.,  166,  187, 
192,  201,  2x3. 

Summa  Theologice,  of  Aquinas,  55,  57. 
Sunday  Sermons,  160. 

Superiora  studia,  212  ff. 

Suppression  of  monasteries,  195  f. 
Suzerains,  63. 

Sweden,  Ratich  called  to,  268;  Come- 
nius  at,  273. 

Switzerland,  education  in,  192  f. 
Symbolum  Apostolicum,  129. 


328 


INDEX 


Tabennae,  island  in  Nile,  6. 

Tabula  rasa,  306  (footnote),  311. 

Tasso,  221. 

Telemaque,  234. 

Tetzel,  182. 

Theodulf,  32,  33. 

Therapeutae,  5. 

Thesaurus ,  273  (footnote). 

Thirty  Years’  War,  199,  209,  290. 
Thoughts  concerning  Education,  Locke’s, 
257,  259,  287,  292,  306  f.,  308, 309. 
Tilly,  221. 

Tochterschule  hohere,  301,  303. 

Toledo,  43;  archbishop  of,  32  (foot¬ 
note),  44. 

Topics,  of  Boethius,  89. 

Toul,  13. 

Toulouse,  university  of,  81. 

Tours,  13,  31. 

Tractate  of  Education,  Milton’s,  254  ff., 
291,  298  f. 

Trasbach,  161  (footnote). 

Trent,  Council  of,  208. 

‘Trojans,’  party  of,  164  (footnote). 
Trotzendorf,  educational  work  of,  188. 
Troubadours,  65,  102. 

Trou  veres,  101. 

Tubingen,  university  of,  145,  148,  156. 
Tyrants,  as  humanists,  121  ff. 

*  Universitas,’  87. 

Universities,  mediaeval,  rise  of,  76; 
history,  77  ff. ;  privileges,  82  ff. ; 
organization,  86  ff. ;  courses  of 
study,  88  ff . ;  methods,  90  ff. ;  de¬ 
grees,  92  f. ;  effect,  93  f. 

Urbino,  duke  of,  123. 

Utopia,  165. 

Vagantes,  86. 

Valenciennes,  146. 

Valla,  129,  135. 

Valladolid,  university  of,  81. 

Vegio,  131. 

Venetians,  take  Constantinople,  45. 
Venice,  123,  150. 

Vergerius,  121,  123,  131,  132,  134. 
Vergil,  18. 

Vernaculce  S choice  Delineatio,  276  (foot¬ 
note). 

‘Vernacular  school,’  of  Comenius,  276, 
278  f.,  281. 


Verona,  123. 

V estihulum,  273. 

Vienna,  university  of,  82,  145,  290. 
Violarium,  276  (footnote). 

Viridarium,  276  (footnote). 

Visconti,  122,  123,  142. 

Vittorino  da  Feltre,  120,  123  ff.,  13 1, 
132,  134- 
Vives,  166,  275. 

Volksschulen,  rise  of,  199. 

Voltaire,  31 1  f. 

Von  Hutten,  184  (footnote). 

Von  Sickingen,  184  (footnote). 
Vorschule,  304. 

Vulgate,  129. 

Waisenanstalt,  301. 

Waldenses,  72,  179. 

‘  Wandering  students,’  85  f. 

Warham,  Archbishop,  165. 

Wartburg,  183. 

Wearmouth,  8,  13. 

Weimar,  education  at,  198 ;  duchess  of, 
268,  289. 

Wellington,  173. 

Wessel,  147. 

Westminster,  173. 

William  of  Champeaux,  80. 

William  of  Normandy,  70. 

William  of  Occam,  55,  73. 

Wilster,  267. 

Wimpfeling,  148  f.,  150. 

Winchester,  173. 

Wissenbourg,  13. 

Wittenberg,  university  of,  145, 156, 182. 
Wolfenbiittel,  education  at,  290. 
Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  102. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  164. 

Worms,  147  ;  diet  of,  183. 

Wiirtemberg,  school  system  of,  161, 198. 
Wyclif,  John,  93,  182. 

Xavier,  Francis,  209  (footnote). 

Yarrow,  8,  13. 

York,  13,  28. 

Zurich,  190. 

Zwingli,  189  ff.,  204;  theory  of  edu¬ 
cation,  190  ff. 

Zwolle,  146,  147. 


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Date  Due 


